


How far is too far?

by Lilith_Sam



Category: Duskwood (Everbyte Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Flirting, Investigation, Love, Multi, Other, Romance, Spoilers, fleeing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:27:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29513178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilith_Sam/pseuds/Lilith_Sam
Summary: This story takes place after episode 7.What will happen after the last tragic events? Lilith has doubts. Will she, Jake, and Hannah's circle of friends manage to save Hannah before it's too late?Massive Spoiler warning of what happened up to and including episode 7!
Relationships: Lilith/Jake, MC/Jake, OC/Jake
Kudos: 20





	1. 1

'How far is too far when it comes to a human life?' Lilith had been asking herself this question for hours. Jake had asked her this question as a counter-question after Lilith asked him if he sometimes wonders if they're going too far.

Slowly she began to doubt. Did she really think she could 'play detective' and help find a missing woman? Had she really imagined she was better than the police?  
Yes, she did. She was sure that with Hannah's circle of friends she would manage to uncover everything and find her.

It all started a little over a week ago when she was contacted by a 'Thomas'. His girlfriend has disappeared and he and his friends want to find her. Without the help of the police. Lilith had asked him what that had to do with her. The answer followed promptly: Hannah's cell phone, who's vanished too, sent a message to Thomas with Lilith's number. Just the number - nothing more.  
As a result, a discussion began in the circle of friends about what to do with the number. Cover letter, ignore, report to the police? They decided on the former, wrote to Lilith, explained what had happened and asked her for help.

And Lilith? Agreed and stayed. She was a kind, curious, ambitious woman and wanted to help. The gang sounded desperate and Lilith thought 'what could go wrong?'  
Duskwood, the place Hannah disappeared, was far enough from Lilith's home town away that she could function as a 'neutral observer' and see everything from a distance.  
At least that's what she thought. But it turned out differently.

Lilith wouldn't necessarily claim these people in Duskwood are her 'friends', but they've grown dear to her in the short time. And she spent a lot of time with them, if you can call it that when you just text each other on your cell phone all day.  
In addition to the circle of friends, she was in contact with a hacker who gave her access to Hannah's Cloud. She and the hacker were hoping to reconstruct what Hannah was doing before she disappeared.  
They learned a lot, found photos, documents and videos, and discussed theories and traces.

But then Jake, as the hacker's name was, suddenly had to go into hiding. He stopped in the middle of a sentence, went offline and disappeared.  
Why? Because Hannah's younger sister, Lilly, was convinced that Lilith and Jake were the kidnappers of Hannah and sneaked into the circle of friends to get information. Bullshit. It turns out that Jake is the half-brother of Lilly and Hannah. Hannah had asked Jake for help shortly before she disappeared, as the two had known each other from few years ago. Because of this, and because they are related, he wanted to help her.

However, after the video was published with the alleged allegations and some personal information, he had to go into hiding because he was being followed.  
Before that, he told Lilith that he had interfered in 'things that should never have been made public', but that it had nothing to do with Hannah and that he was 'one of the good guys, if you can call it that.'

Lilith believed Jake. He didn't always tell her the whole truth, but he didn't lie to her either. He was important to her and she to him. He wanted to protect her. From his world, from his pursuers. She wanted to protect him from himself.  
They are not a couple or anything. They haven't even met. But they liked each other. Even more, Lilith had a crush on him and she was convinced that Jake felt the same way. He had never said it directly. But that is what he expressed indirectly.

Before Jake had to go into hiding, he sent Lilly a link that forced her to contact Lilith and work with her. Together they should solve puzzles, end their argument and learn the truth about Jake. And they did.  
Lilly then tried to help her half-brother and started an action to spread false leads on the Internet.

And then a lot happened in a very short time...  
Among other things, anonymous attackers tried to access Lilith's cell phone and location; The police released the name of the woman's body found in the forest after Hannah had already disappeared and arrested Phil, the brother of one of the friends and owner of the Bar Aurora; Jessy found out about a murder case 10 years ago that Hannah appears to be somehow connected to, quit her job at Richy after an argument, was tagged with the sign of the raven, and wants to leave Duskwood...

A lot more happened. Lilith had the feeling that the events in Duskwood would suddenly roll over and she couldn't process everything that was happening.  
In between there was another attack on her cell phone. This time anonymous attackers tried to access their camera. The attack was successfully repulsed. From none other than Jake.

Lilith was so relieved and for a moment it seemed as if time stood still. He was back. Lilly had managed to give him a huge head start. And when his bot, Nymos, informed him of suspicious activity involving her cell phone, all he focused on was getting somewhere safe and helping her.

Jake explained to Lilith that she had been attacked because she is the only person he cares about. However, he was not yet able to pinpoint the exact origin, whether his pursuers had access to at least some parts of their conversations or whether they made the connection between them through Lilly's video.  
But Lilith didn't care as long as he was back. They wrote each other a little before Jake went to work setting up his equipment and reading what had happened in the meantime.

Some time later he wrote to her again and they discussed the case and the news. In the course of this conversation, Lilith asked whether Jake was not wondering if they were going too far. 'How far is too far when it comes to a human life? I cannot answer that question. Can you do it, Lilith? 'He replied. She couldn't, but she was beginning to doubt.

And then something very terrible happened in front of her eyes and she couldn't do anything except watching helplessly.


	2. 2

Lilith wrote with Richy. After Jessy said she wanted to leave Duskwood and asked everyone else to come with her, Richy suggested renting a cabin in the woods near Duskwood. He wanted to take care of it and send everyone the address so everyone could get there.  
Lilith doesn't know exactly where Richy was when they wrote to each other. They were exchanging the latest developments when Richy suddenly wrote her that he had heard a scream.  
Then he called her and said it wasn't some kind of scream, but someone called his name. He switched on his cell phone camera to talk to Lilith and suddenly he started running. He was in the forest. Lilith saw and heard no one else except Richy, but suddenly he stopped and seemed to fall and all she saw was Richy's face. He was lying on the floor and blood was pouring out of his mouth. Then the cell phone tipped over and all she could see was the sky.

Lilith was shocked and didn't understand what had just happened. She kept calling his name, but nothing happened. Then the connection was broken. She tried to call Richy, but no one answered. 'Shit, what should I do now?' Lilith asked herself.  
He was hundreds of kilometers away. She felt helpless, useless, alone and she was scared. Tears welled up in her eyes. Although she didn't see Richy as a friend, but more as a suspect, she felt sorry for him.

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Then she searched for the chat between her and Jake and started typing: 'Jake?! Are you there? Please tell me you followed the chat between me and Richy and saw what I saw. I'm going crazy. Please, get in touch!'  
He didn't answer.

Then Lilith decided to call Thomas. After the second ring, he answered: “Hey Lilith. I'm in the car right now and Cleo is with me. She can hear you too. We're on the way to the pawnbroker. What's up?"  
"Has Richy already sent you the address from the cabin in the woods?" Lilith asked, worried.  
"Wait a minute, I'll take a look" Cleo replied. A moment later she said “No, not yet. Are you okay, Lilith? You sound concerned."  
“I am. A lot. Cleo, Thomas, I think something terrible happened to Richy."  
"Wait, what? Lilith what the hell are you talking? What's going on?” Thomas asked. He sounded worried and angry.  
“I was just writing with Richy. We exchanged the latest news when he wrote me that he'd heard a scream. Then he called me and said it wasn't some kind of scream, but someone had called his name. Before I could say anything, he turned on his cell phone camera to tell me something and then started running. Suddenly he stopped and seemed to fall. Then all I saw was Richy's face. He was lying on the forest floor and apparently blood was running out of his mouth. Then the connection broke off" Lilith said in a shaky voice.  
"Oh my god" Cleo seemed shocked.  
"Wait a minute. I'll drive to the side of the road and stop” Thomas said. A short time later he said “Ok. Lillith? You said he was lying on the forest floor. Did you know that he was in the woods?"  
"No. I didn't know that. To be honest, I thought that he was still packing at home, as he had just sent us his 'ultimate oh-I-would-have-now-completely-forgotten-that list'."  
“Why should he send them out of the forest? Was he at the cabin already?“ Cleo asked now. She seemed to have calmed down a bit.  
"I don't know" Lilith admitted. "But I'm really worried about him and I don't know how to find out where he is."  
“You said Jake is back. Can't he help us?” Thomas suggested.  
"Good idea" Cleo said. "Surely he can locate the cell phone or not?"  
"What if not?" Lilith asked.  
"Then we'll try something else" Thomas answered. "Lilith. Please try to reach Jake. In the meantime, Cleo and I are trying to find out where this cabin is and whether he has already gone there."  
"What about the others?" Cleo asked. "Should we let them know what happened?"  
"But we still don't even know what happened or where it is, or even have a clue as to where he might be" Thomas pointed out.  
“Thomas is right” Lilith agreed. “Besides, Dan can't do anything anyway. He's still in the hospital. Jessy is currently not on good terms with him and Lilly should perhaps not be confronted with it."  
"You're both right about that" Cleo said. She sounded resigned.  
"Well, let's try to figure out where Richy could be then. Good luck! And call me if you've found anything. Bye” Lilith said, then hung up.

Jake hadn't answered her. 'Damn it. Where are you? 'Lilith asked herself.  
She wrote him another message: 'Jake, please get in touch. Write to me or call me. We really need to speak very urgently. And please find out where Richy's last location was. I think something bad happened to him. I'm really worried.'

\---

A short time later, Jake came online after all.  
Jake: “I'm sorry I didn't get in touch with you earlier, Lilith. I was busy. I read the chat and already tried to find Richy's last location. That just doesn't seem to get us anywhere. His last location was next to Roger's Garage. From what I found out, this place is Richy's apartment."  
Lilith: "Thank you for being there."  
Jake: "That seems to have scared you a lot. Do you want to talk about it?"  
Lilith: “That was even more worse than the attack on Jessy. Jessy got up again at least a short time later. But Richy“ she paused, stopped typing, and accidentally hit 'send'. Her eyes filled with tears again as she thought about what she had seen.  
Jake: "Lilith?"  
She didn't have the strength to answer.

Lilith's cell phone rang, she answered, but said nothing. She couldn't.  
"Lilith?" It was Jake. This time, however, without the voice distorter that is usual for him. "Please talk to me. I'm really worried about you."  
She sobbed, but slowly calmed down. His voice calmed her. "I thought it wasn't safe over the phone?" she said finally.  
She heard him laugh softly. "That's right. But as long as I don't give you any personal information about myself, that should be enough for now. Also, I felt it was better that way than just writing. Talk to me, I'm here."  
"No you're not. I mean yes you are there for me. But you are not here” Lilith said sadly.  
"Lilith" Jake began.  
"No. Please let me finish. I am grateful that you call and want to be there for me. I'm glad we gave you a head start. I appreciate that you wanted to protect me and not put me in danger. But I can't take it anymore. First the threatening phone calls, then the video about Cleo, the attack on Jessy and now that with Richy. It's just too much. And then you. Suddenly you appear, hack into my heart and all of a sudden you vanish again, only to appear again to protect me from your pursuers. And then you write me such sweet things that my message accompanied you throughout your entire escape, you couldn't think of anything but me and even that you thought about how it would be like when all this was over." Lilith tears came to her eyes again. She stopped talking and cried.

Lilith heard Jake say something, but she didn't hear it. Her thoughts were somewhere else.  
Then she heard the doorbell on her front door. The shrill tone brought her back to reality.  
Then she realized she was still holding her cell phone to her ear. "I have to hang up, there is someone at the door" she said. Then she hung up without waiting for an answer.

She went to the door and looked through the spyhole. Someone was standing in front of her door with a hood over his head and his face couldn't be seen. She went back into the living room and sat on the sofa. She didn't feel about seeing anyone and she wasn't expecting anyone.

Suddenly she got a message 'Please open the door and let me be there for you.' It was from Jake.  
Lilith couldn't believe what she was reading. She went back to the door and looked through the spyhole again. The person was still standing at the door.

“Lilith? I can hear you. Please open the door” she heard him say.

"Is it really you?" she asked, still incredulous, through the closed door.

"Yes" he confirmed and then continued "Please let me in."

She opened the door and let him in.  
"Thank you" he said after Lilith had closed the door behind him.

He took off his hood and looked at Lilith uncertain and worried. Then he went up to her and hugged her tightly. After they stood there for a while, he said softly “I'm so sorry. So incredibly sorry, Lilith."

Lilith slowly calmed down and her tears subsided. She broke away from the hug and showed Jake the way into the living room. Then she went into the kitchen and came back with drinks. When she came back, Jake was standing in the middle of the living room. He seemed unsure whether to sit down or not and looked around.

"If you want to, you can sit down" Lilith offered him and sat on the sofa.  
They were both very nervous about each other's presence.  
"Please excuse my emotional outburst" Lilith said finally. “Actually, I'm not like that. But it's just been a lot lately."

"Don't apologize" Jake replied, sitting down next to her. “I understand that. Indeed, a lot has happened recently. That is one of the reasons why I am here. You've doubts and you're unsure whether we are going too far. After our last conversation I decided to go here. To see you. To speak to you. Contrary to what I had set out to do."  
He paused and looked at her. "After your message that you're 'going crazy' I was just more worried and wanted nothing more than to hug you and comfort you."

"Why didn't you say that you're at the door?"

"That's what I wanted. That's why I called you in the first place. But when I tried to tell you, you started talking and it just gushed out of you. And after that you probably didn't hear me anymore and then you just hung up."

"I'm sorry" she said softly, looking away.

Jake reached out his hand gently to touch her face and make her look back at him. “It doesn't have to be. Really. I am sorry."

She looked at him and smiled softly. "It doesn't have to be. It's not your fault. So, you wanted to hug me and comfort me?"

"Yes. Lilith, you're important for me. And to see you like that. So sad and desperate. It breaks my heart."

Lilith took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "You're important to me too. And I'm glad you're here.” She paused for a moment. "Give me a moment to process it all, okay?"

"Take the time you need."

Lilith got up and went into the bathroom. She couldn't believe Jake had actually come. To be there for her. She thought of his words as she splashed cold water on her face and wiped away her tears. 'Good thing I don't use makeup' she thought as she looked at herself in the mirror.

\---

When she went back into the living room a short time later, Jake was sitting in front of his laptop. She smiled at the sight and sat down next to him again.  
He put the laptop on the table in front of him and turned to Lilith.  
"Do you want to talk about what you saw?" he asked gently.

"No, not yet" she said. “I have to work this out with myself first. I'm also still not sure what exactly I saw or didn't see. It was terrible to see that, but I have to look at it objectively."

"I thought you're friends?"

“I wouldn't call it that. I mean, I met these people a week ago and we just wrote to each other. I wouldn't say we're friends then."

"Oh" Jake looked at her uncertainly. "But you said something like that to them and also to me."

“I wanted them to trust me, Jake. I wanted to know more about them. Of course then I will say something like that. And weren't you the one who told me not to trust anyone in the group?"

“Yes, I said that. But I had the impression that you wouldn't listen to me about this."

"But I have."

Jake seemed about to say something but let it go. Lilith got the feeling that she had said something wrong.  
“Did I say something wrong?” she finally asked.

"No. I don't think so. I just wonder if I missed something."

"What do you mean?" the answer confused Lilith.

“As I told you, I have a hard time recognizing feelings through plain text. And I wonder if I misinterpreted something about you or us."

“You didn't, Jake. You didn't have to recognize my feelings for you in any text, I've written it to you clearly and distinctly several times. And I've always been honest with you in case that's your next concern. I'm aware that it contradicts to what I've just said in relation to the others. But it feels very different with you. I just can't explain it better because I don't have the right words."  
Lilith looked deep into Jake's eyes as she said this and for a moment it seemed as if she was losing herself in his eyes.  
She smiled, then asked "How would it be like when all of this is over?"

Jake seemed confused "What?"

"After you saved me from your persecutors, you wrote to me that you 'couldn't think of anything else' but me. And that you've been thinking, 'How it would be when all of this is over. When we've found Hannah'. How about?"

"Um. Lilith. I ”he began uncertainly. He was definitely feeling uncomfortable and blushing.

“Please, Jake. Tell me" Lilith requested.

"I can not."

"Why not?"

“Because I would cross a line with that. There would be no turning back."

Lilith looked at him and took his hand. Then she said softly “Jake, this line has already been exceeded. By your pursuers attacking me. I'm already in the middle of it."

He looked at their united hands. "I mean another limit."

Lilith couldn't help but smile after processing his words. "Jake. Please“ she tried again.

He took his hand away from her, got up and stood in front of a window. “Just forget it, Lilith. I shouldn't have written that to you. I had to hold on to something. But it was stupid of me. It won't work” he said sadly.

"We'll never know, when we give up first" Lilith replied gently. She got up too and walked over to him.

He turned and looked at her. "It was a mistake to come here."

"No it wasn't. And you know that. I won't ask you a third time, Jake. So I'm trying another way. You had made up your mind not to come here. And yet you are here. You worry about me and you wanted nothing more than to comfort me because I feel desperate. And that you think about how it would be like when all of this is over. That shows how you really feel. I feel the same way, Jake. I know what I got myself into when I decided to trust you in spite of everything."

Jake looked at her. But instead of answering, he leaned forward and kissed Lilith. What started softly quickly turned into a passionate kiss. A little later they broke up when they were out of breath.


	3. 3

Thomas and Cleo hadn't called back yet, and Richy's last location helped little in answering the question of where he might be.

Lilith paced up and down her living room, thinking aloud. "You said the last location on Richy's cell phone apparently came from his apartment, right?"

Jake sat on the sofa and watched her. "Right. At least that's what my research showed. The last signal came around 2:15 pm."

Lilith checked her cell phone. "2:15 pm? According to group chat, Richy sent us his ultimate list at 2:13 pm. So he was actually still at home."  
She watched the chat between her and Richy again. “I wrote to him at 2:20 pm. So he could have been on his way by then. Wherever it was."  
She read on and paused when she got to the part where he wondered how everything would have gone if she weren't there.  
“What do you mean Jake? What if it hadn't been for me?" Lilith asked him sadly.

Jake got up from the sofa, walked over to her and hugged her.  
“It doesn't help you asking yourself such questions, Lilith. It already happened and you can't change it anymore. And at this point, objectivity and logic help us more than emotions and empathy."

Lilith looked at him and had to smile. "Where was your objectivity and logic when we talked about the conversation I had with Phil?"

Jake looked at her and blushed but said nothing.

“Jealousy is an emotion, Jake. And a very strong one."

"I know that. But I told you that I am not jealous."

Lilith smiled, broke away from the embrace, took Jake's head in her hands and looked into his eyes: "And I didn't believe you that for a second." Then she kissed him gently.

Since Lilith felt that Jake seemed to be uncomfortable with the subject, she let it go.  
“Back to my conversation with Richy. I wrote my last message at 2:52 pm, the call came at 2:53 pm and lasted about 5 minutes. So we have a time slot of about 45 minutes. A radius can be derived from this where he could be."

"That's a really good thought." Jake sat back at the laptop to take a look.

"You wanted objectivity and logic from me" Lilith stated calmly. Then she thought further. "How far do you think you can walk in that time?"

“That's why I'm sitting in front of my laptop. Check it out” Jake replied when he was done.  
Lilith sat down next to him on the sofa again and looked at a map. Jake pointed to one point: “This is Richy's last location. If we assume a time slot of 45 minutes and that he was walking the entire time, we have a radius of about 3.5 to 4 kilometers. "He pointed to the encirclement, "that would be our radius. Did you see anything but the forest?"

Lilith wondered briefly if there was any clue. "No, absolutely nothing."

“Good, because that means that we can exclude this part” he pointed to a large part of the map “because it is not in the forest.”

"There's still a lot of forest left" Lilith stated as she looked at the rest of the map.  
She looked at her watch. “It's almost 5 pm and Cleo and Thomas still haven't called. It's time to do something. I should tell the police about Richy. I should have done that right after that happened."

“Thomas and Cleo have already done that. Right after you called them."

"Wait. How do you know?"

"I spoke to both of them after you did."

"You have? Why?"

“As I said, I was worried about you, Lilith. Also, someone had to report it to the police. Best someone who is in Duskwood."

"Maybe that's why they haven't contacted me yet."

Lilith tried to call Cleo and Thomas, but neither picked up. She thought about it.  
"I could get in touch with Alan Bloomgate."

"Why him?"

“Objectivity and logic, Jake. Cleo and Thomas haven't contacted us yet. So I guess they're still with the police. We know Richy's last location and with the map maybe we can help them find Richy. I still don't know what exactly I saw. But the police know about me. I'm just trying to get ahead of them, because sooner or later they will certainly get in touch with me."

Jake wasn't convinced of the idea but couldn't talk her out of it. Fortunately for him, only the voicemail answered, when Lilith tried to call the number from Hannah's call list.  
Lilith therefore sent the map with the radius where Richy could be and an explanation to Cleo and Thomas. She hoped the map would be useful in finding Richy.

"And what do we do now, Jake?" Lilith asked afterwards.

"I'm afraid as far as Richy goes, we can only wait for someone to get back to you with news" Jake replied. "Maybe we should talk about something else by then." He looked sadly at Lilith.

"I'm not ready to let you go again" she said when she saw his gaze.

“I can't stay here, Lilith. You know that. It would be too dangerous for you."

“Jake, I don't want to hear anymore that it's dangerous for me. Like I said, I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to trust you. Do you really think I'm so naive and gullible? A man who doesn't want to tell me anything about himself and who hides behind a hood and a voice changer when making phone calls. I knew you were in trouble, but that didn't stop me from trusting you. And it didn't stop me to have a crush on you. And I think it's less dangerous when we're together. We're a good team, Jake. We have seen that lately. And so we could take care of each other. Let me come with you."

"I can't ask that of you, Lilith."

"You don't either" she said with conviction.

Jake considered. He looked at her long and piercingly, looking for hesitation, for uncertainty, for some sign that she wasn't serious. But he found no evidence of it.  
"Are you sure?"

“Yes, Jake. I am."

"You just want to give up your previous life?"

"Yes, Jake, I want that."

"I can't talk you out of it?"

"No you can't."

"You realize that you can't go back when you come with me?"

"Yeah, I know that."

"But what if, that doesn't work out between us?"

"Then at least we've tried." She looked him in the eyes. “You can ask me countless other questions in this direction. My answers will always be the same. I am absolutely sure. Take a look around this apartment, Jake. I am about to leave. I planned to walk away in a few days and take some time off."

Jake looked around. Only now did he notice that the apartment was sparsely furnished and that no photos or other personal items were displayed.

Lilith took his hand, which drew his attention back to her.  
"In case you're wondering if this has anything to do with you or Duskwood, no, it doesn't. I planned this for a long time and saved up for it. And I will go. But I'd just rather go with you."

He looked at her. "But surely you had something else in mind if you had planned that."

She looked at him sadly. “Plans are changing, Jake. And no, I didn't have an exact plan. I just wanted to get out of here. To see something of the world and settle down somewhere where I like it."

Jake looked at their joined hands again and squeezed her hand gently. When he looked Lilith in the eyes, something seemed to happening to him.  
"Fuck" he said, then leaned forward to kiss Lilith and express his emotions.


	4. 4

When Lilith was in the kitchen to cook dinner, her cell phone rang.  
It was Thomas who informed her that thanks to the help of the map they had indeed found Richy. It didn't look good, he was found badly injured and now he's in the hospital where the doctors are fighting for his life.  
Cleo had meanwhile informed the others via the group chat what had happened.  
And now everyone was waiting for news. The idea of leaving Duskwood seemed to have evaporated, at least no one was talking about it for the moment.

When Jake and Lilith were eating the casserole Lilith had made, Jake asked "Why did you offer the others to come here when you planned to leave?"

“Because I somehow knew they wouldn't take it anyway. And if they had, then I would have left later."

"May I ask why you want to leave?"

“It's a very long story. The short version is that I've had a lot of bad luck over the past few years. And when someone very important to me died two years ago, I decided to leave and start somewhere all over again. But I couldn't break down all and drive off overnight. Well, it took me until last month to prepare everything properly."  
Lilith paused for a moment. “I don't know if you saw the camper van in front of the door. But that's mine. I wanted to go with it."

“No, I don't. Interesting idea. So you just want to get into your van and drive off?"

“That was the idea, yes. I wanted to be as independent as possible and for that it made sense to take a camper. It's quite high, but with a length of almost 5 meters it's quite short. But it had exactly the equipment I was looking for and everything fits in."

"Are you already finished packing?"

"Yes, almost. As I said, I originally wanted to leave in three days."

"Wow. It seems to me that you have really considered it very carefully."

"I have" Lilith said with a smile.

After dinner, Lilith tidied up the kitchen. Jake was sitting in front of his laptop in the living room, keeping an eye on his pursuers. When Lilith was finished, she sat down next to him.

“Jake?” Lilith began “I know you don't want me to go to Duskwood because you think it's way too dangerous for me. But I think the time has come. The threats, the attacks, everything has to come to an end. And Jessy mentioned in the group chat yesterday that the police know almost everything, including us. We should work with them together if we want to find Hannah."

Jake looked at her skeptically. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

“Objectivity and logic, Jake. That's what you wanted from me. We have to find out what they know. Why Phil was arrested. Who from the group talked to the police and told them everything. What Hannah could've wanted from Alan Bloomgate. We have to talk to him, too."

"You are right. I'm just not comfortable with you going into the lion's den. I'm worried about you."

“And that's exactly why I want you to come with me. Look at it this way: then you can make sure I don't do anything stupid and stop me.” When Lilith said the latter, she winked at Jake.

Jake thought about it. Finally he said “all right. I can't stop you. And before you go alone, I'd rather come with you. Under one condition. If my pursuers come back, and they will, we'll get out of there as quickly as possible."

"Agreed" said Lilith and smiled. “But I don't want to say anything to the others. At the moment I don't trust anyone in the group. Too much has gone wrong in the last few days."

"I can understand that."

Jake switched off his laptop and gently pulled Lilith closer to him so that she was sitting on his lap, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at her.  
"What should I do with you, Lilith?" he asked more to himself.

"What do you mean?" she asked him dreamily, while her hand played with his hair.

He leaned forward so that his lips almost touched her ear and whispered “I just can't get you out of my head. I feel like I can't think of anything else but you. I've never met anyone like you. I feel like you're clouding my mind. And when I look at you, I only want to kiss you and make love to you."

Lilith got goose bumps and felt herself getting hot. "What's stopping you?" she asked hoarsely.

He looked her straight in the eyes again. "The line. Don't you remember?"

"I thought we had already exceeded that."

"No. There is a last one."

As Lilith looked into his eyes, she saw concern, but also affection and desire. She didn't want to hold back any longer. She kissed him passionately and gave in to her desire.  
And while they were still on the sofa, they began to cross the final line.

\---

When Lilith woke up, she was lying naked in bed. For a moment she wondered how she had gotten there and why a naked man was snuggled up lying next to her and slept. Then it all came back to her and she smiled as she thought of what she and Jake had done in the past hours.

She turned around carefully without waking him, looked at the man and memorized everything. It had been a long time since she had last allowed such closeness and intimacy. And it had been even longer since she had last been so happy.

She felt a movement and noticed that he was waking up. He too seemed confused for a brief moment, but then he snuggled back against her and smiled.  
"Good morning, Lil" Jake murmured softly, his eyes closed.

She smiled when she heard what he called her. No one had called her 'Lil' for a long time. But she liked hearing it come out of his mouth.  
"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" she asked him, gently stroking through his raven hair.

"Better than I have in a long time, even if it was very short." He smiled as he too thought of what had happened.  
Jake opened his eyes and looked at her "and you?"

"Same. It's still dark outside, we could sleep on a bit until we have to get up" she suggested.

"We could. Or..." he leaned forward and kissed her sensually. It wasn't long before they gave in to their desire again instead of sleeping on.

\---

At sunrise, Lilith and Jake lay happily cuddled together naked in bed.

"Do we really have to?" Jake asked Lilith. "It's so cozy right now. Just five more minutes" he beg her.

She laughed softly. "Weren't you the one who told me yesterday he couldn't stay here because it's too dangerous?"

"It's not dangerous in your bed" he said with a wink.

"Tell that to your back and our necks" she replied with a smile.

Jake laughed softly. "That's a whole different thing. That was" he paused, trying to find the right words, "the expression of joyful arousal and our desire."

Lilith heard Jake's stomach growl and had to smile. "As it seems, another desire of yours is coming forward now. Come on, I'll make us some coffee and breakfast. How about scrambled eggs and bacon?"

As if in confirmation, Jake's stomach growled again.  
"I'll take that as a 'yes'" Lilith said and was about to get up, but Jake pulled her close again.

"Five minutes aren't up yet, Lil." He kissed her. "Coffee, scrambled eggs and bacon sounds fantastic."

\---

Lilith got up to go to the kitchen. On the way there, she spotted some clothes. She and Jake seemed to have spread their things all around the apartment. At the sight, she smiled again before gathering everything and taking it to the bedroom.

When Jake came out of the bathroom, breakfast was just about ready. He smiled when he saw that Lilith had only put on a T-shirt.  
He went to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"You should put some clothes on, Lil, otherwise it won't be long before I take off what little you're wearing" he told her with a wink and grabbed a cup of coffee.

Lilith took a sip of coffee and looked at him questioningly. "What happened to you, J? You seem so different from yesterday when you arrived. Where's your hesitation and uncertainty?"

"Left behind the line" he replied dryly with a smirk.

Lilith rolled her eyes laughing, "Weirdo."

While they ate breakfast, they talked about what to do next and when they would leave.  
Jake turned on his laptop and checked to see what his pursuers were doing. Apparently Lilly's action was still going on, as new posts were still constant being made. That was a good sign, because all the more time they had.

\---

Two hours later Lilith was ready to go. She was glad that almost everything was already prepared and she didn't mind leaving early.

As they entered the camper van, she looked at Jake and grinned. "Welcome to my mobile home. 'Mi casa es tu casa.' Feel free to look around anywhere and make yourself comfortable. Have you ever been on the road in one of these?"

"No. We did go camping when I was a kid, but never in an camper like this. And camping wasn't really my thing." He looked around curiously. "You actually have it all prepared well. I'm impressed."  
Looking around, Jake found a photo of Lilith next to a second woman. Both were smiling very happily at the camera.  
He became uncertain when he saw the photo. "Um, Lil. You said I was welcome to fell free to look around anywhere."

"I did. Why? Did you discover something that could be embarrassing for me?" Lilith asked him as a joke and went to him.  
When she saw the photo in his hand, her fun vanished for a moment.  
Lilith looked sadly at the photo and then looked at Jake.  
"The one in the photo next to me is ... sorry, was Ellie. My fiancée."

He looked at her in disbelief. "Oh. Lil, I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to" he began, but was interrupted by Lilith.

"It's okay, Jake. You didn't." She saw his puzzled look. "Do you want to hear the story now, or would you rather hear it later, like while we're driving?"

"Do you want to tell it to me?" asked Jake anxiously.

"Do you want to hear it?" asked Lilith back.

"When you're ready to tell it, I'm ready to listen."

She smiled bitterly. "I'll never be ready for that. But okay, now then. I don't want you to think there's standing anything between us."  
She sat down and Jake took a seat next to her.  
"Ellie's the one I was talking about at dinner last night. She died about two years ago in a hit-and-run car accident. Just before that, we had bought this camper together because we were planning to take a sabbatical after we got married and travel all over Europe. I was a wreck after she died. They never found the person who caused the accident, so there was no one I could blame. After she died, I wanted to sell the van again, but eventually I understood that Ellie wouldn't have wanted me to. And I realized that I didn't want to live here any longer, I needed a fresh start. Then I started planning and when everything was ready and I had saved enough, I quit my job. Ellie and I had been together for almost half our lives. We met and fell head over heels in love when I was 15. And she was the only one who got to call me 'Lil'.' I'll drag anyone else to hell who dared to call me like that."  
She paused for a moment and looked at Jake. "Anyone else but you, Jake. When you called me that this morning, I was flattered and happy to hear it come out of your mouth. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the story yesterday."

Jake embraced her tightly and kissed her forehead. "Don't be. I'm sorry for what happened to you, Lil. Thank you for telling me."

For a few minutes the two sat like that, enjoying each other's warmth and security.  
Then Jake broke away from the embrace to look at the photo again. Only now did he notice that Ellie also had black hair and dark blue eyes. Just like him. Then he said, "She looks pretty. And it seems to me that you have certain tastes when it comes to the hair and eye color of your lovers" and winked at her.

Lilith tried to give him a nasty look, but it didn't work. Instead, she laughed out loud. "Weirdo" she said when she had calmed down again.   
"You do realize I didn't have the slightest idea what you looked like until yesterday afternoon? You know I've always tried to avoid personal questions concerning you and not go into too much details."

"Yeah, I know. When I offered you one question, you suprised me, when you asked, what programs I use. I thought you maybe ask a more personal question, like where I live or what color my hair has or something like that. However, I just wanted to make you laugh. And you proved to me that it works."   
He kissed her before looking at her seriously again.  
"Wait a minute. That means you're bisexual" he then stated.

"Obviously, I'm more than lesbian, yes. Why? Is that a problem?" Lilith asked Jake with a raised eyebrow.

"No, not at all" he replied before dryly add "it just means to me that I have to be jealous of men as well as women. Great."

"Weirdo" Lilith repeated herself and then she took his head in his hands. "You don't have to be jealous of anyone, J. I only have eyes for you."   
She kissed him softly and followed up with a wink "And the next chance I get, I'll explain to you the difference between 'being nice', 'flirting with someone' and 'getting information in the course of an investigation'."

"I'm looking forward to that explanation" he said with a grin.

"Good, shall we get going then? Or have you changed your mind?" she asked uncertain.

"Let's go, Lil. You're not getting rid of me that fast anymore."

In Lilith's ears, that sounded like a promise, not a threat.


	5. 5

The drive to Duskwood took a long time. Nevertheless, the time passed very quickly as the two had a lot to talk about.

They didn't know how Richy was going, since no one had heard anything and apparently no visitors were allowed.  
Dan, who was still in the hospital as a patient, had tried to get into Richy's room, but short time later wrote in the group chat that a police officer was sitting in front of the door and made sure that no one except the doctors and nurses entered the room.

Except for Jessy, no one seemed to think about leaving Duskwood anymore.  
Thomas and Cleo would have joined, but were not particularly enthusiastic about the idea from the start. Lilly had been convinced, but changed her mind again after what had happened to Richy.

When Lilith thought of Lilly, she remembered the letter from prison that Lilly had sent her.  
"Jake. Did you read the last chat between Lilly and me?” she asked him.

"No I haven't. Why?"

“Lilly was at Hannah's post box yesterday morning and found a letter from a prison. She later scanned the document in and sent it to me. After everything that happened to Richy, I completely forgot about it. But it just occurred to me again. Lilly couldn't say anything about it, doesn't know anyone, with the name from the document and Hannah had never spoken of him. We were considering sending you the document. Maybe you will find out more."

"I'll have a look" Jake said, taking his laptop on his lap.  
As he looked carefully at the document, he said, “By the way, if you want to take a break and swap, all you have to do is say it. You don't have to drive all the time."

"That's nice, thanks. But it's okay. I like to drive."  
She hesitated a moment, but then decided to bring up the next topic.  
“I was wondering if you would tell me what exactly happened to you. And who these persecutors are you're hiding from and who are after me too. Of course, only if you're ready for it."

Jake thought about it for a long time.   
“Let me end this and find out who this Ted Madruga is. Then I'll tell you everything. After all, you also told me about your worst experience. You chose me. And you decided to trust me, so it's only fair that I explain to you what kind of mess you're in and why."

It was quiet for a while between the two of them and you could only hear music and Jake's typing on his keyboard.  
After a few minutes he said, "Okay, sorry, but that doesn't work."

Lilith was confused, "what doesn't work?"

He laughed and blushed a little. “I thought I could use this time while you're driving to look at the document and find this Ted Madruga and find out who he is and what connection he might have with Hannah. But it doesn't work. I get sick by looking at the screen while driving."

Lilith looked at him worried. "I hope it's not because of my driving skills?"

“No, don't worry, Lil. It's not you, it's me. Even as a kid I felt sick when I sat in the car in front of the GameBoy, for example."  
He closed the laptop and looked at her.  
“'Teddy' has to wait a little longer. I'll do that later when we're there or we'll take the next stop."

“To be honest, I didn't expect you to start right away. It just occurred to me and I wanted to tell you so that it doesn't go under again."

"'Again'?"

“Yeah, the thing about that ominous video from Hannah. The recording of the surveillance camera. We never talked about it because something more important always came up."

“I guess I haven't made up for everything that I missed during the escape. I'll look at it later."

"You don't have to. It's enough if you read the chat between me and Dan. I talked to him about it."

"With Dan?" Jake asked surprised.

"Yes. He offered me his help and I accepted it thankfully. Even if you find it hard to believe. Dan is the one I'd say I trust most from the group."

“No, not anymore. He's very direct and doesn't seem to like me, but he's the only one who seems to have been really honest with you throughout all the time. Or he's a very good actor. At first I was surprised that you chose him of all people when it came to the clue of 'Jennifer'. But now I understand your point of view and can understand that you chose him."

She smiled. "Thanks, J."

He looked at her uncertainly. "Are you sure you want to know what happened to me?"

"Yes" she said with conviction. "When you're ready to tell, I'm ready to listen."

"All right then. I met someone a few years ago. Her name was Alice. I fell in love with her and thought I could trust her. She was a hacker too, at least that's what I thought at the time. She wanted strange things from me, wanted me to get her certain files or plans of buildings. I was in love, curious, and ambitious, so I did. Mostly without asking questions. But I'm also very careful and precise and always made sure not to leave any traces. And I never did that either. Anyway, one day I found out that she was cheating on me. Or she cheated on someone else with me. I don't know which order is correct, but that's not the point. The point is, I broke up with her, but she never really wanted to accept it. Until I obtained a ban on contact for her. Then she swore vengeance and told me that I would regret it."

He paused and thought.

“That was about three years ago. Well, and last year a close friend of mine informed me that I was wanted because I had hacked into Interpol's database and probably left digital traces in the process. That confused me. For one, because I would never be stupid enough to hack into Interpol's database. On the other hand, because I would never use my name for it. But it seemed that the traces actually pointed to me and not to 'Shadow', my alter ego in the cyber world. And last but not least, because I wasn't even near a computer at the time. I was at Wacken and celebrated with friends."

He looked at Lilith.  
“Anyway, I've been on the run since then, trying to prove my innocence. You can imagine that this is not easy. I mean, I didn't do what I'm being accused of. But I'm not 'innocent' either. As I said, I had interfered in things that should never have been made public. I can't say for sure, but based on what I've found so far, I'm convinced that this is Alice's said revenge."

Lilith had listened carefully. When he was done, she gave him a quick look as they were standing at a red light. Then she turned her attention back to the road.  
"Wow. I'm sorry for what happened to you. And thank you for telling me."

He smiled bitterly. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

Lilith gave him an angry look. “Jake, please, not again. It wasn't you."  
She thought about it, then asked "May I ask you a few questions about this or would you prefer to leave it like that?"

"Ask whatever you want."

"How long have you two been together?"

“Almost three years. And yes, she had at least one other guy the whole time. And no, I had no idea until the end that she was just mucked me."

"Why the ban on contact?"

“As I said, she didn't want to accept it when I broke up with her. She stalked and threat me. And once she beat up another innocent woman just because that woman spoke to me in a bar. After that I effected the ban on contact. Not necessarily for me, but rather in the hope of protecting my friends and acquaintances."

"You said your alter ego is 'Shadow'?

“Yes, back then I thought it was a good fit. I act in the shadow, was like a shadow and lived in the shadow” Jake said, sounding proud.

“That's not what I meant. I know you“ Lilith admitted.

"What?" he looked at her astonished.

“Well, knowing is a bit exaggerated. But I heard about you. You know, Ellie worked for the BKA, in the Forensic Institute, ballistics was actually her field, but a good friend of hers is in the cryptanalysis department. And he was a big admirer of you or 'Shadow'."

"I've heard a lot of terms related to myself or 'Shadow' but 'admirer' is new."

"But what interests me most: You were on Wacken, J?"

“What is it that surprises you, Lil? That I listen to metal, go to a festival and celebrate with strangers or that I have friends?"

Lilith had to laugh. “It doesn't surprise me at all. I just wouldn't have thought you're a metal head."

"Oh, there is still a lot you don't know about me."

"I'm looking forward to getting to know everything."

"So the story about my crazy ex-girlfriend doesn't put you off?"

Lilith pretended to be thinking. "No. On the contrary. I want to help you."

"You want what?"

“You heard right. First, we're going to Duskwood to find your half-sister and catch that bastard who is hiding behind the mask. And then I'll help you prove your innocence and show that Alice is behind it."

"Lil, please drive to a parking lot at the next opportunity."

The sudden change of subject surprised Lilith. "I can do that. But why?"

He grinned. "Because right now I have a very strong desire to hug you and kiss you for what you just said."

She smiled and slowed down. Shortly before, she had seen a sign that indicated a parking lot within a kilometer.

\---

The break lasted a little longer. Fortunately for them, the parking lot was empty and there was no one else to be seen. And since they were on time, they allowed themselves that.

When Lilith got dressed again, she said more to herself with a huge smile "Well, I guess 'Ihana' is no longer a virgin."

Jake didn't understand and just looked at her questioningly when he got dressed again, too.

“The camper van. Ellie and I had a strange habit of naming our vehicles. Mostly Scandinavian terms. 'Ihana' is Finnish and means something like 'beautiful' or 'wonderful'. At the time, we felt it was fitting."

Jake laughed. "It's kind of very cute and a bit crazy."  
He kissed her neck before whispering in her ear "and I am flattered that I was the one who had sex with you here first."

Lilith blushed for a moment, then looked at Jake and asked him: "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a damn sexy voice?"

He grinned. "No."

"Maybe it's just me. But then I'll tell you now. Your voice is so damn sexy and really turns me on."  
She winked at him, got up and made them coffee before they drove on.

When the satnav indicated that they would be in Duskwood in about 30 minutes, Jake asked:  
“So what's the plan? Where do you want to go first?"

“Actually, to Richy and Dan to the hospital, but since Richy doesn’t seem to be allowed to be visit and we have no idea whether he’s even approachable, that sounds like a waste of time to me. So I want to go to the police to speak to Alan Bloomgate. Only with him. You could use the time to look for Ted Madruga and find out who he is. And maybe you will somehow manage that we can talk to him."

"What do you hope for?"

“About the conversation with the chief of police? I hope that he'd talk with me and possibly tell me one thing or the other. And maybe I ask him, why he called Hannah the day she vanished. It was only a very short conversation, but he called her and I'm convinced that's important somehow. Also, I'd like to tell him what we found out. Maybe that will help us all. And to Ted Madruga: I hope to find out why he's in jail, what he's done. From this it can possibly be deduced what connection he and Hannah have."

"Do you really want to do that?"

“Yes, Jake. Time is running out. And I hope that Alan will see that too."

"What about the others? Don't you think they should know that you are here?"

"Not yet. I can hardly imagine that one of them is really behind all of this. I mean, if that incident with Jennifer was actually the origin and is related to Hannah's disappearance, then it can't be. Unless one of them is significantly older than he claims to be. But as I said, too much has gone wrong in the last few days."

“One of them said rumors spread quickly in Duskwood. That will certainly also apply to our arrival. And this camper is not exactly inconspicuous."

"I know. And we will tell them. When the time is right."

A few minutes later, they drove past the "Welcome to Duskwood" sign, which Lilith knew from Jessy's virtual tour of the city.


	6. 6

They parked on a side street near the police station. Lilith made her way to the station. Jake stayed in the camper van to do his research.

When Lilith entered the station, she went to an older gentleman who was sitting behind a counter.

“Hello, my name is Lilith Smith. I would like to speak to the police chief” she said in a friendly tone.

The man looked at her. "In which matter?"

“It's about the missing Hannah Donfort. I'd like to give evidence."

"Mr. Bloomgate is very busy right now. I don't think he” he began, but was interrupted.

“Please, Hank. Don't be so dismissive. I'll make time for Miss Smith” said a man behind him.

He came out from behind the counter, smiled gently at Lilith and introduced himself.   
"Miss Smith. I was wondering when you would show up here. I'm Alan Bloomgate, the police chief. Please come with me to my office, we can talk in privacy. I'm curious what you have to say."  
He went ahead and asked Lilith to follow him. "May I offer you something to drink, coffee or water?"

"Coffee, with a piece of sugar, without milk, would be nice" she replied pleasantly.

Alan looked at Hank. "Hank, would you be so kind to bring us coffee?"

"Sure, chief."

Lilith and Alan entered his office, he sat down behind his desk and offered her a chair across from her.  
A short time later Hank came with two coffees, put them down and left them alone.

Alan gave Lilith a friendly look and got straight to the point. “Well, Miss Smith. So you want to give evidence about the 'Hannah Donfort' case?"

"Yes I'd like to."

"Good. Then let's start at the beginning. What's your relation to her?"

"No one. I don't know her."

He looked at her astonished and suspicious. "I beg your pardon?"

Lilith tried to find out whether he was just playing amazement or if he was serious. He seemed serious.  
“You heard that right, Mr. Bloomgate. I don't know Hannah Donfort or any of the others from her circle of friends personally. And to be honest, I'd never heard of this place until about 10 days ago."

He nodded to her. A sign she should continue.

“One day I got a message from Thomas, Hannah's friend. He wrote me that Hannah has disappeared and that he and his friends want to find her. Without your help. When I asked what this had to do with me, they wrote me that Thomas had received a message from Hannahs cell phone. There was just a number in it, nothing more. That number was my cell phone number. Thomas informed me a short time later that this message suddenly disappeared again. Since he was a suspect, he did not tell the police about it. Without the message he thought you would never believe him. Instead, he and his friends decided to write to me and ask how I know Hannah and why her disappeared cell phone should send him a message with my number. I don't have an answer to that question. But they asked me for help. And I said yes."

"Why did you do that?"

"I felt sorry for them and they sounded very desperate."

"Where were you at the time?"

“Until this morning I was in my home town about 350 kilometers away from here. A small place near Frankfurt."

"Can anyone confirm that?"

"Of course. Ask my neighbor, Mrs. Quinn. I'll be happy to write down your number for you."

He nodded again.  
Lilith looked closely at the police chief. He seemed to have heard that part for the first time. But he seemed to believe her.

"What happened next, Miss Smith?"

She hesitated about telling Alan about Jake. Lilith wasn't sure if Jessy had lied about that or not. She decided not to mention Jake for now if it wasn't necessary.

“For one thing, I did some research on Hannah Donfort. I was trying to find out who she is, what she spent her time with, who she is friends with. I looked at her social media accounts, photos that she uploaded and things like that. I wanted to get an impression of who I was dealing with. And on the other hand, I got to know her friends better. They told me what they knew. And they did their own research and shared what they found with me. We tried to reconstruct what Hannah was doing before she disappeared."

"What did you find out?"

“That Hannah grappled with an incident that was almost 10 years ago. The 'Jennifer Hanson' case."

That made him clairaudient. And Lilith got the impression that he already knew. “'Jennifer Hanson' you say? What do you know about it?"

“I know that 'Jennifer' was on her way to see her father when she disappeared without a trace. That she was sought for days until an employee of the sawmill found her by chance. I know that the police had assumed a murder until the autopsy showed that she was apparently hit head-on by a car and died of her injuries at the scene of the accident. That the driver buried her in the woods and she should never be found."

"Where did you get this information from?"

"From Iris Hanson."

"You talked to Iris?"

"No. Hannah spoke to Iris before she was abducted, and Jessy Hawkins spoke to her too."

Lilith looked closely at the police chief. He already seemed to know that Jessy had spoken to Iris. He looked sad when it came to the case. She suspected that he was investigating the case at the time.

“You seem to have done a very thorough research, Miss Smith. One could almost think you know your way around.”   
He said and there was recognition in his voice.  
"Is there anything else you would like to tell me?"

“Hannah also researched about an old Duskwood legend. The man without a face."

“I know the legend, everyone here knows it. Do you want to tell me now that Miss Donfort was kidnapped by a legend?"

"No not that. But that your perpetrator is hiding behind the legend. Since I agreed to help I have received threatening phone calls. And Richy Rogers, as well as Jessy Hawkins, were marked with the sign of the raven. Also, Jessy Hawkins was attacked by someone. And this someone was wearing the mask from the legend."

Alan Bloomgate didn't seem to know that yet, he looked surprised for a brief moment.

"Can you tell me more about this attack on Miss Hawkins?"

“Of course, Mr. Bloomgate. It was three days ago. She took me on a virtual tour of the city that evening because she wanted to show me the beautiful sides of Duskwood. It took longer than expected and got late. When she was on her way home it was already dark. She suddenly felt uncomfortable and wanted to talk to me on the phone. Before we just wrote. She called me and we spoke briefly about something. Suddenly I saw movement behind her, but could no longer warn her in time. Everything happened too quickly for that. I saw Jessy being grabbed from behind. Then the picture went black for a moment. A moment later the cell phone was picked up and the attacker looked directly into the camera. He was wearing a mask that looked exactly like the one in the book of legends. He looked straight at me, then put the phone on the floor. A short time later I saw Jessy moving again, getting up and hanging up."

"What do you think, Miss Smith, why didn't she report the attack?"

“Unfortunately I can't tell you that. I advised her to go to the police. But she apparently did not take my advice."

He seemed to wonder if Lilith was telling the truth, but then decided to believe her.  
"I understand. Thank you for your honesty."  
He paused for a moment and looked at her seriously.  
“What was the Lilly Donfort video about? And why did it disappear so quickly?"

“Well, what the video was all about, Lilly explained in her video. She believed that I was Hannah's kidnapper and that I would sneak into her circle of friends to get information. And the video disappeared again because it was wrong and she saw it."

She didn't want to say more about it, but Alan gave her a piercing look.  
“Miss Smith, you have been very honest with me and have been more helpful than the rest of Hannah's friends. Please don't stop now to protect a criminal. Who is this unknown man, that Miss Donfort spoke of?"

Lilith looked at him and wondered how much to say. But then decided to stick with the truth. Alan Bloomgate seemed very good at reading people. And she wanted him to trust her.

“He's an old friend of Hannah's. The two had a lot of contact a few years ago when Hannah was still living with her parents. He told me that he was forced to break off contact at the time. And that Hannah asked him for help shortly before she disappeared."

Alan considered and looked at her for a long time.  
“I believe you. But I'm also convinced that that's not all."

“That's not all, Mr. Bloomgate. However, the rest is not relevant to the case Hannah."

"Fine. I'll leave that for now, Miss Smith” he said after much thought.  
Then he smiled gently.  
“By the way, thank you for the map with the possible whereabouts of Mr. Rogers. That was very helpful. Without this map, we would certainly not have found him so quickly. But why didn't you call yourself, but sent your friends over?"

Lilith's eyes filled with tears when she thought of Richy.  
“I was pretty shocked by what I saw. And I thought it would be more helpful if Cleo or Thomas report this since they are there. With the map I was just trying to help. I also tried to call you yesterday."

"Really?" He asked astonished.

“Yes, when I had the map ready. I tried to contact you first. It must have been around 5 p.m. Since I only reached your mailbox, I sent the map to Cleo and Thomas."

He checked his cell phone. "Strange. I don't see a call at all for the time."

That made Lilith puzzled. Still, she had to put that thought aside for now.  
"Mr. Bloomgate. May I ask you where you found Richy and how is he now?"

“You can. We found Mr. Rogers within your radius in the north-east of the woods, about 3,5 kilometers from his home. It just doesn't look good for him right now. I can't go into the details as the investigation isn't over, but he's not out of danger yet. And if you hadn't let us know, I don't know whether he would have been found alive."  
He paused for a moment so Lilith could process it.  
Then he went on, “It seems to me that you were in the middle again this time, Miss Smith. Would you tell me what you saw?"

She looked at the police chief sadly, then stared at the floor.  
“Unfortunately I haven't seen much. We were writing, exchanging news, when he suddenly wrote to me that he had heard a scream. Then he called me and said it wasn't some kind of scream, but someone had called his name. Before I could say anything, he turned on his cell phone camera to tell me something and then started running. Suddenly he stopped and seemed to fall. Then all I saw was Richy's face. He was lying on the forest floor and apparently blood was running out of his mouth. Then the connection broke off" Lilith said in a shaky voice.

Alan looked at her sympathetically but said nothing.

When Lilith had calmed down a bit, she asked: "Would it be possible to visit him?"

He looked at her sadly. “I'm sorry, Miss Smith. But as I said, the investigation is still ongoing. In addition, he is currently unresponsive, so we don't let anyone see him except doctors and nurses. For his safety."

"I understand."

"I am sorry. But if you leave me your contact details here, I'll keep you updated” he offered.

"Thank you that is nice."  
Lilith thought about asking the next question, but then she did.  
"Are you going to investigate Hannah's friends and me?"

"Why should we?"

"Obstruction of Justice. Jessy said she spoke to you after her brother was arrested. And she made hints that you already knew a lot about what I told you today."

“Well, Miss Smith. I am sure you understand that I am not going to tell you about the state of the investigation. But I can answer your question. No, I won't. We're a small town and only have a few officer. You will understand that we've more than enough to do with the corpse, the missing Miss Donfort, and the attack on Mr. Rogers right now. And you especially, Miss Smith, have been very cooperative. As long as that doesn't change, I see no reason to investigate you."

"What do you mean by 'as long as that doesn't change'?"

“You have been honest with me, so I want to be honest with you, Miss Smith. I am very impressed with what you found out in such a short time. And gradually we're running out of time. That means we could use some help. I researched about you. Your former employer told me a lot. What do you think of a cooperation until we have found Miss Donfort?"

He smiled at Lilith after asking her the question.  
Lilith couldn't believe what was happening. Her thoughts were racing.

"Miss Smith?" Alan Bloomgate brought her back to reality.

She looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea" she said finally.

"I'm glad you see it that way too." He smiled at her.

A short time later Lilith left the station with one laughing and one crying eye.  
She was glad that Alan Bloomgate seemed to trust her and wanted her help.  
But she had no idea how to explain this to Jake.


	7. 7

When Lilith got back to the camper van, Jake stood outside. He looked worried.

"Hey, there you are again. I thought they'd left you right there."

She smiled at him and gave him a kiss.  
"No, Don`t worry. The conversation just lasted longer than I expected. What are you doing out here?"

“I was worried about you and needed some fresh air. How did the conversation go?"

She looked around. "I'll tell you on the way."

"On the way? Where are we driving to?"

“There is a site just outside of Duskwood. Nearby the hospital. I thought this is a good place to stay today. We have a lot to talk about and a lot to do if we want to move forward."

Jake nodded, he had nothing to add to that.

On the way to the said parking space, Lilith told Jake everything about the conversation with Alan.  
Jake wasn't surprised at the proposed collaboration. He've seemed to expected it.

When they got to the site and parked the camper van, Lilith looked at him.  
"You don't seem surprised."

“I'm not either. I'd used the time you were talking to him. Let's say I've done my homework” he said with a wink. Then he continued: “First, I looked at everything you sent me and read all of the conversations. Then I tried to find out more about Teddy and after you still didn't come back I did some research on Alan Bloomgate. From what I've read, he's honest, ambitious, smart, and most importantly, realistic. And a good cop. It fits what you said. That's why I'm not surprised."

Lilith got the impression that Jake wanted to say more, but he didn't. So she decided to leave the topic for now.  
"We should take a look around“ she suggested instead and got out.

The parking space was a simple, paved parking lot. For camper vans there were connections for electricity and water, a possibility for fresh water supply, as well as sewage disposal. This parking space was different from others as it also had a shower and toilet facility that could be used for a small fee.  
The place was quiet, at the far end of the hospital parking lot. There was nobody else to be seen except them.

She smiled at Jake, then said, “That should be enough for our purposes for today. What do you think? Should I cook something for us?"

He smiled too. "Sounds good." Then he looked around the parking lot skeptically before saying: "I'm very curious to see how I like this. As I said, camping wasn't really my thing."

Lilith embraced him and gave him a soft kiss.   
"At least give 'Ihana' and me a chance" she begged him.

He kissed her on the forehead, then replied with a smile, “I do. Otherwise I would have picked out a place to stay for us. I'm kind of looking forward to this new experience."

They stood there, embraced, in front of the vehicle for a few minutes, enjoyed the peace and quiet and togetherness before they went back inside so that Lilith could cook something.  
While she was standing in front of the two small hotplates and preparing the food, Jake sat on the back seat and watched her.

"Are you all right, J?" she finally asked.

"Yes, Lil. I am. I just like to look at you. Is that uncomfortable for you?"

She smiled at him. "No. Rather irritating. I'm not used to that."

He got up, walked up to her and hugged her from behind. He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, kissed her neck softly and whispered, "Then get used to it, Lil. You're beautiful, smart, fascinating, sexy. And my girlfriend. I like the sight that's presented to me."

She got goosebumps. His voice turned her on incredibly and she couldn't think clearly. She tried to control herself again and asked teasingly: "So I'm your girlfriend?"

Jake smiled when he saw her reaction and continued, "what would you call it, Lil?"

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the kisses on her neck. "I ... I don't know. But 'girlfriend' sounds great." She paused until she finally found her voice again: "J?"

He stopped kissing her for a moment: "Lil?"

"You should stop doing that."

He went on. "Why?"

"Food is almost ready."

He smiled. "Right now, you taste so good."

She turned around and put her hands around his neck. His hands rested on her lower back. They looked at each other. Then Lilith said with a wink: "If you pull yourself together at dinner, there might be a dessert for you."

He smiled and gave her a sensual kiss. "I'm looking forward to the dinner and of course the dessert."  
Then he let go of her and set the table.

During the meal, Lilith looked at Jake. "Aren't you wondering why Mr. Bloomgate offered me the cooperation?"

"I wanted to wait and see if you would tell me about it yourself", Jake replied calmly and looked at the clock.  
"I thought it would be longer before you bring up the subject again" he said with a wink.

“I'm not stupid, Jake. I know who is sitting in front from me. I know that you know who I am."

He grinned. “Right from the beginning you've shown me that you're very different from what I read about you. That there is so much more. And it doesn't matter who'd you used to be or what you did. I trust you Lil. But of course you can tell me if you want. I am a good listener."

Lilith laughed. “Indeed you are. But if it doesn't matter to you, we should let the past rest and focus on the cases. After I agreed to help, I asked Mr. Bloomgate about Phil. He expressed himself very vaguely, but we'll meet tomorrow morning at the hospital to check on Richy together and then he'll tell me more."

"Are you worried about Phil?"

"Yes I am. I've only written to him once. But he seemed to be honest. And he didn't look like he's a kidnapper or even a murderer. And I still assume the cases have a connection. Speaking of connection: What can you tell me about Ted Madruga?"

Jake grinned. “Don't think I wouldn't notice that you're trying to distract from Phil. That wasn't exactly subtle” he said with a wink.  
“So, Ted 'Teddy' Madruga. Unfortunately my search was not successful. As I told you, I had to leave some of my equipment behind, which would have been useful for that. But maybe Alan Bloomgate can help us with him."

Lilith nodded "I'll ask him tomorrow morning.“  
When she thought of Alan, she remembered his remark about her call attempt.  
“Did you actually check the Duskwood civil register? I'm sure by now that the 'Alan' on Hannah's call history is not Alan Bloomgate. As you know, I tried to call the number again yesterday and only the voicemail answered. Anyway, Alan Bloomgate told me that he hadn't been shown a call for yesterday. That's strange."

Jake looked at her thoughtfully.  
“Indeed, that's strange. And yes I have. According to the civil register there was only 'Alan Milan' apart from him."

"What do you mean by 'was'?"

“He was the owner of the Aurora Bar until he sold it to Phil Hawkins last year. It seems he's gone."

"I remember. Jessy mentioned something about it. Phil had been working in the bar until the owner suddenly left Duskwood. It puzzled me at the time that she wasn't quite sure whether Phil had bought the Bar from him. However, I pushed it aside once after she wrote that the two of them don't talk to each other that much because they are quite far apart in terms of age and don't have that much in common."

Jake wanted to say something else, but at that moment Lilith's cell phone rang. The two looked at each other questioningly before Lilith picked up the phone and turned on the speaker so that Jake could overhear.

"Miss Smith? This is Alan Bloomgate speaking. There's news about Mr. Rogers. I know that we didn't want to meet until tomorrow morning and that it's quite late. But could you come to the hospital at short notice?"

Jake nodded to her.

"Of course. When should I be there?"

"I'm on my way and it will take about 20 minutes, is that possible?"

Lilith looked at Jake questioningly. He nodded again.

"Yes, it is."

"Good. We'll meet in front of the main entrance. See you soon” and with that he hung up.

Lilith looked at Jake questioningly. "What was that?"

"I don't know. But we'll soon know more."

"'I’ve got a bad feeling about this'."

Jake had to laugh. "Please, I can't bear any Star Wars quotes now."

Lilith pretended to be shocked. "You aren't a Star Wars fan?!"

He was smiling devilishly. “Of course I am a big fan. But I'll have to skip my dessert, Lil. And it's getting worse, when you speak like that. It turns me on."

Lilith grinned. “Well, if that is the case. 'The Force will be with you. Always'."

"Lil. Please. Stop it” he said with a laugh.

"'I find your lack of faith disturbing'."

"If you want to be at the hospital on time, you should stop now."

"'Never tell me the odds'."

“I'm serious, Lilith. Stop."

"'You’re my only hope'."

He leaned over to kiss her. But Lilith wouldn't let him. Instead, she looked at him with a grin and said with a wink: "'I’d rather kiss a Wookie'."

“Ouch, that hurts. But maybe you're right and I should shave myself again."

Lilith leaned forward and almost touched his lips. "'Do. Or do not. There is no try'."

He took her head and pulled her close to kiss her sensual. When her lips parted, Lilith said, "'You're coming with me. I'll not leave you here, I've got to save you'."

Jake looked deep into her eyes. “Believe me, Lil. You already saved me."  
Then he kissed her again.

\---

20 minutes later, Lilith was standing in front of the main entrance to the hospital, waiting for Alan Bloomgate. Jake kept an eye on her from a safe distance.  
When Alan arrived, he greeted her warmly and they entered the hospital to make their way to Richy.  
In front of his room was a policeman who looked at Lilith skeptically, but let her pass when he saw that she was with the chief of police.

When they entered the room, they met a doctor. He indicated that Lilith and the police chief should follow him. They went to his office. After the door closed, Alan took the floor.

"Dr. Beckett, thank you for calling me. Let me introduce you to Miss Smith. She is an external advisor in this case. I thought it appropriate to bring her with me."

Dr. Beckett gave her a friendly nod.  
“Nice to meet you, Miss Smith. Mr. Rogers recently regained consciousness and is accessible. He suffered moderate traumatic brain injury. He is still weak and disoriented, but since you asked that I call you as soon as he is conscious again, I still wanted to comply."

"Thank you, Dr. Beckett” Alan said in a friendly tone. "Do you think we can talk to him?"

“As I said, Mr. Rogers is still very weak. But feel free to try. I understand the gravity of the situation and the urgency."

Lilith looked at the two gentlemen. Then she asked Dr. Beckett: "Besides the TBI, have you been able to determine any externally caused injuries?"

“No, apart from a head injury, we couldn't find anything. Why?"

Alan took it over: "A 'witness' saw Mr. Rogers bleeding from his mouth while lying on the forest floor."

Dr. Beckett looked at the two thoughtfully. “Well, such a symptom can of course have many causes. But in relation to what I have been told and what I have ascertained, I cannot explain it myself. Did your 'witness' tell you by chance what the blood looked like, whether it was frothy or black?"

"No, what difference does that make?"

“If the cause lies in the respiratory system, the ejected blood can often appear frothy due to the added air, but if it comes from the stomach, it is often discolored black due to the effects of gastric acid. That could have given us a clue."

"I see, thank you Dr. Beckett” Alan said.

Dr. Beckett looked at the clock. "Never mind. I have to go now, the next patient is already waiting. As I said, you can talk to Mr. Rogers for a moment. But don't hope for too much, as I said, he's still very weak."

Alan looked at the doctor. "May Miss Smith and I stay here a little longer?"

He nodded to both of them before leaving the room and going into the next patient room.

Lilith and the police chief looked at each other. Then Alan took over: “I think it would be good if you could come with me, Miss Smith. Perhaps you will notice something about him."

Lilith nodded. "Do you think he staged it?"

"You mean because of what you saw?"

Lilith nodded and thought. "And because of what Dr. Beckett said. As far as I could tell, the blood was neither frothy nor black. And now I'm not sure what I saw anymore."

“We'll soon find out what happened to him. Well then, let's go Mr. Rogers."  
He held the door open for her. "After you, please."

Lilith and Alan entered the room where Richy was lying. He had closed his eyes but slowly opened them when he heard someone enter the room.

Alan went ahead and stood at the foot of the bed. “Good evening, Mr. Rogers. I'm Alan Bloomgate, the police chief. That's“ he wanted to introduce Lilith, but Richy was faster.

"Li ... Lilith? Is it really you?” he asked incredulously.

She nodded and stood next to Alan.  
"Yes, Richy. It's me. It's a shame that we get to know each other under these circumstances."

"What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here."

Alan took the floor. “Miss Smith is here because I thought it appropriate after everything that happened. She informed us about you. Without her help, we might not have found you so quickly, Mr. Rogers. I asked her to come here to testify."

"Do you remember what happened, Richy?" Lilith asked worried.

He thought. “I know that I was in the forest. We wrote to each other. Then I heard someone scream. It sounded like a woman was calling me. So I ran in that direction. Then suddenly it went black around me. And now I'm suddenly in the hospital."  
He looked puzzled. "Why am I in the hospital?"

Alan took over again “We're still trying to find out what exactly happened to you, Mr. Rogers. Why were you in the forest?"

"I don't know."

"I was told that you and your friends were planning to leave Duskwood and that you would take care of booking the cabin."

"That's true."

"Then why did we find you in the forest?"

"I really don't know, Mr. Bloomgate." Richy looked upset.  
“Can you come back tomorrow? My head feels like it's going to explode."

Lilith took Richy's hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze to calm him down. It worked.  
“Richy, I know you're confused and upset. But please tell us why you went into the forest alone. I was really worried about you when you suddenly lay motionless on the forest floor."

He looked at her in shock. "I ... What?"

Lilith looked him in the eyes. “You really don't remember? You called me after you heard the scream. Then you ran. Suddenly you stopped and fell. Then I saw you lying on the forest floor before the connection broke."

Richy shook his head but said nothing.

Alan gave Richy a piercing look. “Take a rest, Mr. Rogers. We'll be back tomorrow. Maybe you can think of something else."

Richy nodded. Alan looked briefly at Lilith and left them alone.

"Why are you here?" Richy asked Lilith when they were alone.

Lilith looked at him seriously. “It has to come to an end. And from where I was there was nothing I could do. I had to come here."

"It's dangerous here."

"I know. I've seen that. But I could no longer sit around at home and watch."

"Do the others know that you are here?"

"Not yet. I haven't been here long either."

"Have you thought about that?"

"Yes. I had no other option."  
Only now did Lilith notice that she was still holding Richy's hand. She let go of him and looked at him gently. "Get some rest, Richy. We'll speak again tomorrow."

He nodded. "It's good to see you, Lilith."

She smiled. Then Lilith left the room and left Richy alone.  
As she expected, Alan was waiting outside the door. He looked at her inquiringly. She shook her head. He nodded.  
Lilith got the impression that she and the police chief already understood eachother without words, although they had only met a few hours ago. Alan reminded her very strongly of her father, who was also an officer.

She looked at Alan. "If you no longer need me, I would like to visit Mr. Anderson before visiting hours are over."

He nodded. “Of course, Miss Smith. Thank you for taking the time. See you tomorrow morning."  
Without a big farewell, he left Lilith alone.

At that moment, her watch showed her a message from Jake.  
'Visiting Dan is not part of the plan.'

She grinned and looked around. She saw a notice sign for the restrooms. She went there, made sure she was alone, and pulled out her cell phone.  
Then she said “I know, but while I'm here I can pay him a quick visit. Did you hear everything well?"

"Indeed. That was a good idea of yours to call. I didn't expect it to work that well. Where did you have the cell phone?"

“I might explain to you later. Visiting hours will be over soon anyway, so I don't have much time. Should I leave you on the line or can I hang up?"

"Leave me on line."

"Ok, then I'll go see him."  
Lilith put her cell phone away again and made her way to Dan's room.

She knocked but got no answer. She knocked on the door again and got an annoyed "What?" before Lilith opened the door and entered. He looked at her in amazement.

“Grumpy as always. Hi Dan. I thought you'd be a little more happier to have a visitor."

"Are you sure you aren't in the wrong room?"

She laughed. “Yes, I'm sure Dan. I am pleased to meet you. It's me, Lilith."

He looked at her in amazement. "That can't be true. Why should she visit me?"

"Because she is nicer than you think?!"

"Pf. So far none of my so-called 'friends' have visited me. So why should she if she doesn't even live in Duskwood?"

"Maybe she came here to put an end to it all."

"You want to kill me?!"

She laughed. “No, Dan. I want to grab the full feathered dumb-ass and save your friend."

"How do I know it's you?"

“I could tell you a secret. Something you only told Lilith. When you offered your help. You wanted to bring a 'breath of fresh air to the dusty place' and I only agreed to you on the condition that you tell me a secret."

"Okay, okay, I believe you." He looked at her. "Wow. Lilith, you look good."

"Thank you. You too." Then she followed with a wink "The hospital outfit suits you."

"Haha. Very funny. What is the leader of the club really doing here?"

"Greet our youngest member and hand over your club ID."

"You have club IDs?!"

"No, but I'm thinking about organizing some for us."

They both laughed before Lilith continued “I was here to check on Richy. And thought you might be happy if I say 'Hello' for a moment."

“You thought correctly. How did you manage to get past the policeman sitting in front of his door?"

“I smiled and was nice and he let me through. You should also try that."

"I don't believe you."

"Okay. I was with Alan Bloomgate."

"You talked to the chief of police?"

"Yes I have. After what happened to Richy, I asked Thomas and Cleo to go to the police, afterwards I decided to come here. As I said, I want to end this and finally find Hannah."

He looked at her sadly. "I want that, too."

At that moment a nurse came into the room to inform Lilith that she had to go now.  
Lilith looked at Dan. “Well, I guess I'll have to go again. I'll come over again tomorrow if you like."

He grinned. "Sure."  
When Lilith was already at the door, Dan said: “Thank you for visiting me. Take care of yourself."

"Same to you. Get well soon" Lilith said and then she left the room and the hospital and went back to Jake.


	8. 8

Jake stood in the shadows in front of the main entrance and waited for Lilith. They went back to the camper van in silence.  
Lilith had the impression that they both preferred to talk when there were walls around them.  
To her surprise, Jake had done the dishes and prepared the pull-out double bed in the roof.  
After they closed the door behind them, Jake looked at her with a raised eyebrow.  
"You've a very interesting relationship with Dan", he said amused.

She looked at him confused. "How do you mean that?"

“Well … it was fun listening to you both. How you two treat each other is ... fascinating."

"Is that positive or negative?"

“Definitely positive. I haven't laughed like this for a long time when I overheard someone” he said with a wink.

"I'm glad we're able to amuse you."

Lilith went to the fridge and took out two beers. Jake looked at her in amusement.  
"Don't drink and drive."

Lilith laughed. “Oh, I don't plan on leaving today. But after the last two days and talking to Richy, I need that."

He nodded. "Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"  
Jake looked at her worried.

Lilith opened the beers, gave Jake one, and sat in the back seat. He sat down next to her and clink glasses with her. She took a long sip and looked at him thoughtfully.  
“I think a lot about Richy. He's been acting so suspiciously lately. And I'm not sure anymore what to believe and what not. When we wrote, he always seemed so nice. But in the last few days he always wanted to take a break when it came to important topics because it became too 'negative'. He literally broke off the discussions. Then his look when he recognized me earlier. I don't know how to interpret it. I'm usually good at reading others, but with him ..."  
She paused, took a sip, and thought about how go on.  
“It was really difficult for me. His eyes were so dark and cold. It just doesn't match how he was at the beginning. And that he supposedly no longer knew why he was in the forest. I don't believe him. And why was he bleeding from his mouth? It doesn't make any sense."

"Do you think he faked it?"

"I don't know. I think it's possible. On the other hand, why would he inflict moderate TBI on himself? And how is that supposed to happened?"

Jake shrugged. Nor did he have an answer to these questions.  
Lilith took another long sip and then thought further.

“I don't want to shoot myself in on him if you get what I'm talking about. I want to be objective. But now there is so much that makes him so incredibly suspicious. And so many unanswered questions. What the hell did he tell Jessy about me? How did he know about the matchbox that was found next the body? Where was he that night Dan had the accident? And this screenshot from the conversation with Phil. When we talked about it, he expressed himself so strangely and indirectly blamed Phil for having the sign of the raven on his garage. Or when the forest search was canceled because of the threatening letter Cleo's mother received. Then he said something else that it was hopeless anyway, given the size of the forests. And that it's not worth risking our own lives for it. But why did he go to the forest then? He knows that the man without a face wants to keep us away from the forest. And this conversation about his phone call and his meeting with Hannah. It looked so detailed and laid out. Or after I found the book of legends in Hannah's cloud and we talked about why the kidnapper is hiding behind this legend. Why this break and the silly game?!"

She took another sip and looked at him questioningly.

"Maybe we should focus on the questions we can answer" suggested Jake, taking a long sip, too.

"Which are?"

“You will meet Alan Bloomgate tomorrow. You could ask him if he can tell you something about Ted Madruga. You can ask him why Phil was arrested. And what they have against him. And if you're lucky, he'll let you talk to Phil directly."  
He paused for a moment, took another sip and took Lilith's hand.  
“And you could get in touch with Jessy. She wanted to look for the documents on the AMC Gremlin."

Lilith looked at the joined hands and smiled. Then she sighed.  
"Sounds like we have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Indeed. And there are still many inconsistencies."

"That's frustrating, J."

"I know."

"Every time I think we're getting one step closer to Hannah, something bad happens and I get the feeling that we're falling two steps back."

Lilith took one last sip. He looked at her in amusement. "Thirsty?"

"Yep."

“I'll get two more. You look like you could use another one too."

Lilith smiled at him. "There is still something else I could use."  
She leaned over and kissed Jake sensual.

He smiled too. "I can really use that too."  
Then he got up and got two new beers.

Lilith accepted the beer thankfully and took a sip. When Jake sat down again, she pulled him close and he leaned his head on her chest.  
“How do you like it here?” she asked him, stroking his hair with one hand. With the other hand she caressed Jake's arm.

“It's cozier than I'd expected. And the bed also looks more comfortable and is bigger than I'd thought. And I'm impressed with your equipment."

They lay there for a while and Lilith thought about something. Then she asked "Tell me, did Alice have a tattoo on her right forearm?"

She noticed that Jake was tensing. He wanted to sit up, but Lilith wouldn't let him. He exhaled visibly, but stayed where he was.  
"You seriously want to talk about my crazy ex now, while we're lying here like THIS?!"  
He looked upset and annoyed.

"I'm just thinking about something that might help us in your case" she said gently.

He wanted to sit up again and this time Lilith let him. He scowled at her with sparkling dark eyes.  
"I don't want to talk to you about the woman who ruined my life."

"Excuse me. I didn't want you to be upset” she tried to calm him down.

“Then you shouldn't start talking about her. Especially not when I'm lying in your arms and enjoying it” he said angrily.

"Jake, I'm sorry" she tried again softly. “But I told you I would help you with this. But that's only possible if you let me."

"And I told you I don't want to talk about her."

"You will have to if I am to help you" she tried gently one last time.  
Lilith wanted to take his hand, but he pushed it away. Now she was getting angry too. She crossed her arms over her chest.  
“Well, then I stop it. I will refrain from helping you in this case in the future if you find it so difficult to answer a simple question. But just for the record. It isn't that long ago that you fucked me just because I offered you my help in the first place."

For a while there was silence between the two. Lilith wanted to calm down and let him get the chance to calm down, too. She quietly drank her beer. After a few minutes, Jake seemed to have calmed down. He looked at Lilith, embarrassed.  
“I'm so sorry that I got mad, Lilith. It's just that she's like a red rag to a bull for me. I don't want to think nor talk about her."

Lilith tried again to take his hand. This time he allowed it. She squeezed it gently.  
"I understand that. After what you said, I would certainly feel the same way. But if you want to erase her from your life once and for all, you have to think and talk about her. At least, till we were successful."

"Just warn me next time, please" Jake begged.

She smiled. "I can do that. But what should I tell you before that? 'Attention, now I want to talk about the crazy one who ruined your life. Please don't get mad now?"

He laughed softly. "Sounds good."

She wanted to cheer him up further. “We could come up with a code word for it. Because I can't remember the sentence."

"You mean something like a safeword?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, like that. How about 'Jabba the Hutt'?"

That made him laugh.  
"I like this idea. But no. I will not use a character from my favorite franchise for this. Even if the comparison is quite appropriate."

“Okay, I understand. How about 'Jabberwocky' instead?“

"Jabba-who?"

"'Jabberwocky'. It's a dragon-like, dark creature from Alice in Wonderland."

"Sounds right."

“Well, let's try it out then. 'Jabberwocky'."

"You still want to talk about her?"

“Yes, J. Just this one topic. Please."

"Fine. No she didn't. At least not on her right forearm. She has one between her shoulders. Such a stupid grin with eyes and a hat."

"You mean a grin like the 'Cheshire Cat' from Alice in Wonderland?"

"I honestly don't really know about Alice in Wonderland."

Lilith took her cell phone and searched the Internet for a photo of the Cheshire Cat and a picture of the Mad Hatter and showed it to him.  
"I mean a grin and a hat similar like that."

He nodded. "Yes, it looks something like that."  
He wondered: "Why did you want to know?"

“I read about the 'Mad Hatters' a while ago. A mysterious organization that does questionable things for strange reasons. Anyway, I was kind of thinking about them. Their distinguishing feature is the described tattoo. Just on the forearm."

"And you mean 'Jabberwocky' is a member of theirs?" He had to smile when he called Alice that. The code word seemed to work.

“Could be. I mean her name is Alice."

Jake thought about it.  
“That's an interesting theory that you have. And now that I think about it. Maybe I saw the same tattoo on someone else in her circle of friends. But I'm not sure about that. But how should this tattoo help us?"

“I know someone who preoccupied with the 'Mad Hatters'. Maybe he can tell me more."

"Let me guess. Your friend at the BKA."  
Jake looked at Lilith with concern. She nodded.  
"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"It's worth a try. But I'll only do that if you agree, Jake."

He thought. After a while he sighed. "Fine. Try."

She smiled gently. "Thank you."

Then she leaned forward to kiss him, but he wouldn't let her.  
He grinned and said "I thought you'd rather kiss a Wookiee?!"

She smiled. “Chewie is cute, of course. But I prefer rather black-haired" she replied with a wink.  
She looked at him mischievously when she thought about his words from earlier.  
"'Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering'. "

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.  
"What is this, Lil?"

“I'm just remembering that we didn't have dessert. And now I'm trying to change something about it."

"Then go on. You can do that pretty well if I'm honest" he replied with a grin.

"'You can't stop the change, any more than you can stop the suns from setting'."

He pulled her close and kissed her passionately. Then Jake said “we should go to bed. We have more space there."

"'Your focus determines your reality'."

"I take that as consent."

They knew it was going to be another short night. But they didn't care.


	9. 9

The next morning, Lilith and Jake drove back to Duskwood so Lilith could meet Alan Bloomgate at the station.  
When she got there, she greeted Hank warmly. He waved her and gave her a signal that she could go straight through to Alan's office. She knocked and entered.

Alan Bloomgate sat behind his desk and smiled pleasantly.  
“Good morning, Miss Smith. Nice to have you here. I've already picked out all of the files relating to the Miss Donfort case for you. You are welcome to look at everything in peace."

"Thank you, Mr. Bloomgate" Lilith began "but I was wondering if we could start with something else."

He looked at her inquiringly. "What did you think of?"

"Well, for one thing, I wanted to ask if you could tell me about a certain Ted Madruga."

He gave her a piercing look. "How do you know that name again?"

“Hannah's younger sister, Lilly, was at Hannah's postbox the day before yesterday. And there she found an 'application for a permit'. It was missing her signature, so it was sent back to Hannah. It seems that Hannah wanted to visit him. So I thought the name might be important."

"Mr. Madruga caused the car accident in the 'Jennifer Hanson' case. He was the one who hit her back then."  
He paused and thought.  
“However, he still claims to this day that it wasn't him. He asserts that he ran into 'a large animal' and left it there. But the fact is, we found traces on his car that match Miss Hanson's wounds. Ultimately, he admitted that he was drunk driving and doesn't remember what exactly he hit. Only why Miss Hanson's body was found so deep in the forest, so far away from the scene of the accident, is still unclear. We found traces that suggested Miss Hanson was dragged into the woods from the scene of the accident. She shouldn't be found. Just like I said, Mr. Madruga is convinced that he wasn't the one who dragged her into the woods. He 'just drove on and left the thing on the street'. It's still a mystery today, what actually happened that evening."

Lilith looked at him sadly.  
"I understand. Thank you, Mr. Bloomgate."

He nodded. "I can also make this case available for you to read."  
Then he looked at her. "What else did you want?"

“I was wondering if you would tell me more about Mr. Hawkins' arrest. And whether there is an opportunity to talk to him?"

Alan Bloomgate thought for a long time before answering her.  
"What are you hoping for from talking to Mr. Hawkins?"

“Well, I've only had contact with Mr. Hawkins once. I asked him a few questions about Hannah Donfort. He seemed honest as far as I can tell. But I'm also convinced that there is more and that he didn't tell me everything. I hope to learn more when I talk to him face to face. Also, as I said, I would be interested in why he was arrested. Because I think the Miss Donfort, Miss Bell Lewis and Miss Hanson cases are related somehow."

"Why do you think that?"

“In the published news about Miss Bell Lewis, there was a stone in the background. It seemed to be a memorial stone. And even if you can't see it exactly, I would suspect that Miss Hanson's name is on this stone. I don't think it's a coincidence that Miss Bell Lewis was found there, of all places. I think our perpetrator wants to express something."

"You really have an excellent powers of observation, Miss Smith" he said approvingly.  
“You're right, Miss Bell Lewis's body was found near Miss Hanson's memorial stone. But it seems that she too died in a different place and was laid down there post mortem."  
He paused and considered Lilith's request.  
“I'll let you see Mr. Hawkins. If he allows it, you can talk to him in private. However, don't be disappointed if he refuses. So far he has refused to give any statement."

Lilith smiled gratefully at him. Alan got up and went to the door.  
"Hank? Would you be so kind to bring Miss Smith to Mr. Hawkins?"

"Sure, chief" came a prompt reply from Hank.  
Lilith went to him and together they made their way to Phil's cell. Hank pointed from a distance to the cell in which Phil was sitting and left Lilith alone. She went to the cell and stood in front of the door so she could see him.  
Phil was sitting on a bunk, his back and head against the wall. He had closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking.

Lilith cleared her throat before she said. "Hello Phil. It's a shame that we get to know each other under these circumstances. I'd have been happy if that hadn't been the case here, but in your bar."

He opened his eyes and looked in the direction from which the voice was coming. He looked at Lilith puzzled for a moment, then his gaze changed and he seemed to know who was standing in front of his cell door.  
"Lilith! What a surprise. How come you're allowed to see me? As far as I can tell, they didn't even let Jessy come to me."

"I've been the official advisor in Hannah's case since yesterday and asked to speak to you."

He looked at Lilith for a brief moment, amused. Then his gaze became serious again.  
“'Official Advisor', huh? How did you manage that?"

“I had a very long conversation with Alan Bloomgate yesterday. About what I've found out about Hannah so far. And when I was done with my statement, he offered it."

"Oh, how nice of him" Phil replied sarcastically.

“Phil, please don't take your frustration out on me. I want to help you."

"Can you get me out of here?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"Are you guilty?"

He scowled at Lilith. "Would you believe me if I said 'no'?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because nobody seems to believe me so far."

"Then let me be the first" Lilith said gently.

He laughed bitterly. "Yes, of course. Why should I believe you or trust you, Lilith?"

"Because I want to find out the truth and imprison the real perpetrator."

“And you don't think that has already happened? I mean, am I locked up or not?"

"No, I don't think it was you."

"How so?"

"Because Jessy was marked with the sign of the raven and Richy was attacked in the forest when you were already locked up."

Phil looked at Lilith in shock. "Jessy was WHAT?"

Lilith nodded. "I'm sorry, Phil."

"How is she doing?"

"She's terrified as hell and wants to leave Duskwood."

He nodded. "A comprehensible reaction."  
He got up and went to the cell door so that he was facing Lilith. His gaze changed for a moment as he looked Lilith up and down. Then his gaze became serious again.  
"What happened to Richy?"

“Nobody knows exactly what happened. Richy says he can't remember. He was out in the forest and was suddenly attacked."  
She paused for a moment.  
"May I ask why you were arrested?"

"You know about the body that was found?"

Lilith nodded. "Yes, Amy Bell Lewis."

"Correct. Well, it seems I made out with the wrong woman in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"She was your girlfriend?"

“I wouldn't call it that. We had fun together a couple of times, if you know what I mean” Phil said with a mischievous grin and a wink.  
“But she wasn't someone I'd have a serious relationship with. Anyway, she was in the Aurora one evening and we flirted a bit and she stayed until the bar closed so I could take her home and we could have fun. When I was on my way home the next morning, I was apparently being watched by 'watchful neighbors'. Because it seems that she disappeared a short time later. And now I'm being accused of having something to do with her being dead. That's why I'm sitting here."

"What do they have against you?"

"Vague assumptions, statements that contradict each other in my opinion and a little gimmick that each of my guests can take away."

"So nothing tangible?"

“I don't know, Lilith. The police stormed into my bar and took me away unsuspecting, as if I were a felon. I was just about to call you because I wanted to speak to you. But when they came in and I saw their looks, I of course hung up again as soon as they stormed towards me."

“That explains your call I missed. What did you want from me?"

"Talk to you. I liked it when we wrote to each other and I wanted to repeat that. I actually wanted to invite you to the bar so we can talk” he said with a grin.

Lilith looked at him thoughtfully.  
"I believe you. But I have the feeling that there is more."

“You're good, Lilith. I had another idea about Hannah that might help you. Something Amy told me."

"Amy and Hannah knew each other?"

"Yes. Amy and Hannah weren't exactly good friends, as far as I know. But the last time Amy was in the Aurora she told me about a conversation the two had. And that came back to me."

"Can you tell me more about that?"

When Phil was about to talk again, the door to the cells opened and a man in a suit came up.  
"Mr. Hawkins. Don't say another word. I'm Anthony Castle. Your sisters Angela and Jessica send me. I'm your lawyer."  
Mr. Castle looked at Lilith.  
"You should go now, Miss Smith."

"But I was straight" Lilith began, but Anthony interrupted her.

“I don't care where you were. Please leave my client and me alone."

Phil first looked at his lawyer and then turned to Lilith again.  
„Somehow I'm still here, to explain, that the darkest hour never comes in the night.“

Lilith looked at him questioningly. Phil winked at her.

"Mr. Hawkins, please. Don’t say another word until we’ve spoken to each other” Mr. Castle intervened again.

Phil looked at the lawyer and ran his thumb and forefinger over his lips as a sign that he was locking his mouth. Then he threw an imaginary key towards Lilith.   
He turned and sat back on the bunk.

"I'd better leave you alone with your client, then" Lilith said to the lawyer.

Then Lilith looked at Phil and said: „But when you gonna wake up and fight, for yourself?“

When Phil looked at her, she winked at him. Then she went back to Alan's office.

Alan Bloomgate had meanwhile provided her not only Hannah's files, but also those on Amy Bell Lewis and Jennifer Hanson.  
Lilith spent the next two hours reading through the files and taking inconspicuous notes or photos so that she could show the information to Jake later.  
When she finished, her head was smoking from all the information and she was frustrated.  
She needed some fresh air and wanted to go back to Jake.

Lilith got up and left Alan's office. Hank was still sitting behind the counter.

"Hello Hank. Do you know if I can speak to Mr. Bloomgate?” Lilith asked the gentleman.

"Miss Smith. No, unfortunately the chief is not available at the moment. He went back to the hospital to speak to Mr. Rogers. I'm supposed to tell you that he'll call back later. Are you finished with the files?” Hank replied pleasantly.

"Yes I am. Thank you for everything. I'd go back now and wait for Mr. Bloomgate to call."

Hank nodded and said goodbye to her before Lilith left the station.  
As soon as she got out of the door, she called Jake. He picked up after the first ring.  
"Hey, I'm done. Can you pick me up?” she asked him.

"Sure, I'll be there in ten minutes at the latest."

"Thanks. See you soon” and then she hung up.

While Lilith waited for Jake, she thought of Phil's words: 'Somehow I'm still here, to explain, that the darkest hour never comes in the night'.  
She knew this sentence.  
It was a line from a song by one of her favorite rock bands, so she'd been able to answer it appropriately.  
But somehow she couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was more to it than a line from a song and the sense of giving her a catchy song.


	10. 10

Jake picked her up and the two drove to a parking lot outside near Duskwood.  
Meanwhile, Lilith started to tell Jake what she had learned that morning.

"That's a lot of new information, Lil" Jake said when she'd finished.

Lilith made coffee and they sat on the back seat. Meanwhile she thought about what she'd heard.

"True. I just can't get Phil's last sentence out of my head. 'Somehow I'm still here, to explain that the darkest hour never comes in the night'. It's a line from a song from 'Shinedown'. I just can't get rid of the feeling that he was trying to tell me something specific."

"You mean some kind of puzzle?"

"Yepp."

Jake gently stroked Lilith's arm and thought.  
"How does he even know you're listening to 'Shinedown'?" he asked after a while.

Lilith smiled and picked up her cell phone. Then she opened her Messenger and showed Jake her profile picture.  
“Therefore.” In the photo she wears a corresponding band shirt.

"He must have looked at your profile picture pretty carefully" he said with a raised eyebrow.

“Jake, please. That's not the point."

“You're right, Lil. I trust your feeling. And if you think that he's trying to tell you something, we should try to find out what."

"How do we do it?"

“I could look at all the information that we've collected so far and add the new. I have to do that anyway. If he really wanted to send you a message, we may be able to decipher it using our information” Jake suggested.

"That's a good idea. But first I have to call Lilly. As indicated in Hannah's file, each of Hannah's friends spoke directly or indirectly to the police. I still can't believe what I've read. I think it's time to meet the others and have a serious word with them."

"Are you sure?"

“Yes, Jake. I am. But not in Duskwood. I want to make sure that those who aren't in the hospital yet are safe. When it first came to whether or not the others should leave Duskwood, Lilly told me she was thinking about everyone should go to the motel for a while so they could be together. I'd like to adapt this idea. Just a little outside of Duskwood and definitely not in the forest. Perhaps Lilly has contacts with other hotels nearby. Then we could meet there."

"You've already thought about everything carefully, haven't you?"

She winked. "Sure I have. Objectivity and logic, J."

Jake nodded. He knew there was no point in protesting against it.  
Lilith called Lilly to discuss everything with her. She wanted to take care of it and inform the others.  
A short time later, Lilly wrote in a new group chat that she'd arranged everything and gave everyone the address.  
Lilith and Jake had also reserved a room in the hotel.

About an hour later, the two arrived at the hotel and checked in.  
The room was large and comfortably furnished, with a King-Size bed, a sofa and a small table with two chairs.

Jake lay down on the bed and checked his watch.  
"We still have some time until Lilly and the others will arrive."  
He looked worried at Lilith.  
“You should take a rest until then. You look tired."

Lilith stood in front of the bed and looked down at Jake.  
“No, I don't have a head for that now. I've to think about what happens when everyone is here."

He sat up. "You mean 'WE have to think about it'" he corrected her.

"Yes."

Jake looked at her for a moment. He sat on the edge of the bed and gently pulled Lilith to him so that she stood between his legs and he could hug her.  
“I'm just worried about you. The last days have been very long and the nights short. It would be good for you to rest."

Lilith stroked Jake's hair.  
"And what about you?"

"I'm used to not sleeping much."

"It would be good for you to take a rest too" she mocked him with a wink.

He laughed softly.  
"I like it when you make me laugh. But maybe I deserve that you mock me."

"And I like that I'm the only one that can still make you laugh."  
Then she leaned forward to kiss him.

At that moment Lilith's cell phone rang. Jake rolled his eyes.  
"Do you really have to answer it?"

"Yes, it's the chief of police" she stated when she looked to see who was calling.

"Hello Mr. Bloomgate" Lilith said in greeting and turned on the speaker so Jake could overhear.

“Hello Miss Smith, I heard you were lucky with Mr. Hawkins and it wasn't just a one-way conversation. Did he tell you something that could help us?"

“He told me his point of view. And he gave me one more reason to believe that the Miss Donfort and Miss Bell Lewis cases are related. The two probably knew each other. But when it got interesting, unfortunately his lawyer Mr. Castle burst in and sent me away."

“I also had the pleasure of speaking to Mr. Castle. We're going to have to discharge Mr. Hawkins tomorrow if nothing else happens. Can you come to the station?"

“I'm not in Duskwood currently. I'm outside to meet with Miss Donfort's friends."

"Outside of Duskwood?"

"Yes. I thought it appropriate to get them to safety. Two of Hannah's friends are already in the hospital and one acquaintance is dead. And with all the threats and warnings the others have received, I think it best to keep them away from Duskwood for a while."

"I see. You may not be entirely wrong about this. I went to see Mr. Rogers again. But he continues to say that he doesn't remember anything and he didn't want to tell me why he was in the forest. Please keep me informed after speaking to Miss Donfort's friends."

“Of course, Mr. Bloomgate. I'll get in touch with you. But it may be that this will not be the case until tomorrow."  
With that they said goodbye and Lilith hung up.

She sighed. "Where is it all supposed to lead?"

"At best, Hannah" Jake said softly.

"Are we going too far, Jake?"

"What do you mean?"

“Everything that has happened so far. It's my fault. If I hadn't interfered, Dan and Richy wouldn't be in the hospital. Jessy shouldn't have to fear for her life. Cleo and her mother wouldn't be..."

Jake cut her off. "Lilith. Stop telling yourself that. You're good at what you're doing. Self-doubt doesn't help you. It tarnishes your wonderful, resourceful, clever mind. We've come so far."  
He got up and embraced her tightly.  
“Even Alan Bloomgate trusts you and understands that he needs your help. Stop doubting yourself. Nobody blames you for what happened."

"But I'm..." she tried to say. But Jake wouldn't let her. He pressed his lips on hers and kissed her sensual. He tried to express everything he felt for her in that kiss. Lilith understood, replied and deepend the kiss.

As they broke the kiss, breathless, Jake looked deep into her eyes and whispered softly "No more self-doubt. You're wonderful. I'm serious."

Lilith looked at Jake and felt affection, admiration, devotion, connection and so much more for the man who stood opposite her.  
He soothed her with his words and his presence and she wondered how she could ever live again without this wonderful man by her side.  
The answer was easy. She couldn't. She didn't want it. And she would do anything for him.

She hugged Jake again. When Lilith was ready to let go of him a little later, he pulled her close again and whispered "not yet" in her ear.

\---

"You're sure you don't want to come with me?" Lilith asked as she got ready for the meeting.

"Yes. As I said, I'd prefer not to speak to them directly."

"Sooner or later you will have to talk to Lilly."

"I know. But currently I prefer later. I don't know what to tell her."

Lilith sighed. "Fine. I'll let you get away with that one last time."

Jake looked at her uncertainly. "They're not right next door, are they?"

"No, Don't worry. They're on the other side of the hotel. Lilly has reserved a large suite for them in which all can stay together. And that's where I'm going now."

"Good luck.” He gave her a gentle kiss. "And don't be too strict with them."

Lilith laughed and winked at him. "I'll think about it."

\---

Lilith was a little nervous when she knocked on the door of the room. It seemed surreal to her to finally meet Lilly, Jessy, Cleo and Thomas in person after all the messages they had written.

The door was opened by a young, blonde woman who smiled at her.  
"Lilith, how nice to see you" Lilly said and hugged her, to Lilith's surprise.

She returned the hug. "Hey. Yes, I'm happy too. Even if I wish the circumstances were better."

Lilly nodded, she knew what Lilith meant. Lilith entered. Lilly had booked a two bedroom suite for the friends. The entrance area consisted of a small hallway that led to a living area with a kitchenette with three doors leading off. Two each to a bedroom and the third to a bathroom.  
When Lilith entered the living area, Jessy jumped up from her place on the sofa and ran towards her.

"Lilith! Oh my god. You're here! How nice to see you” she said and hugged Lilith too.  
"Thanks for arranging that."

Cleo suddenly stood behind Lilith. "Hello Lilith. The circumstances could be a lot better, but I'm also happy to finally get to know you."

Jessy let go of Lilith so that Cleo could hug her too.  
Thomas got up and went to Lilith. To her surprise, he also hugged her in greeting.

"Hello Lilith, I thought you gave up after everything that happened" Thomas said.

Cleo glared at him. "Perhaps you shouldn't just go like a bull at a gate, but let her arrive first."

"No, it's okay, Cleo" Lilith replied. “We should get to the point right away. I'm sorry I didn't wrote after what happened to Richy. Thanks, Cleo and Thomas, for calling the police and handing the map to the chief of police."

"Many thanks to you and the hacker for creating this map" Thomas replied.

Lilith nodded. Then everyone sat around the table in the living area. Jessy and Lilly on the sofa, Cleo in an armchair and Lilith in a chair.  
Thomas got something to drink for everyone from the fridge and then sat down on a chair as well.

"We were worried about you, Lilith" Jessy said after everyone had sat down.

"Says the person who was tagged" Lilith said calmly.  
"Does anyone know you're here?"

"No" Lilly answered. “I created a new group chat to send the address to just the five of us. Except for us and probably Jake, nobody knows our exact location. We just said that after everything that happened, we'd like to leave Duskwood for a few days."

Lilith looked around and saw approval of Lilly's words.

"Good. Don't go into details when someone asks you. And for your safety it's better you won't go for a walk alone either."

They all nodded again.

Lilith continued. “I'm sorry that I've been so quiet for the past two days. But I haven't been idle. On the contrary, after Richy was found and I got over the shock, I continued to investigate. I drove to Duskwood and talked to some people.“  
Then she told them with whom she'd spoken and the most important findings from these conversations. She left out that Jake was with her. And also that she had read the files. But she told them she was officially helping the police.

When Lilith was done, she looked at amazed faces.

Thomas was the first to break the silence.  
"Wow. Lilith. Please excuse my comment from earlier."

She smiled at him. "No problem."  
She thought for a moment, then remembered the bracelet.  
“Something else. Thomas, Cleo, could you talk to Mr. Oakley about the bracelet?"

Thomas shook his head. But Cleo nodded, then she said “After you called us about Richy, the hacker called us and asked us to go to the police, which we did, as you know. And then of course we weren't at the pawn shop. But I went to see Mr. Oakley yesterday. He could remember Hannah buying the bracelet from him. I asked him if he knew who gave the bracelet back then. And he was kind enough to check. It wasn't easy. The bracelet had been with Mr. Oakley for a long time. He informed me that it was handed in about 10 years ago. From Paul Rogers."

Lilith looked at her with wide eyes. "You mean Richy's father?!"

Cleo nodded. "Yes. Mr. Oakley told me that Paul Rogers gave him the bracelet back then. He probably found it in a car that ended up as scrap in his workshop while clearing it out. Mr. Oakley made a note of that in case someone was looking for the bracelet."

Lilly looked questioningly into the rest. “Uh, what kind of bracelet? Maybe I'm the only one, but it’s all Greek to me."

Thomas got up, went into one of the bedrooms and came back a short time later with the bracelet in his hand to show it to Lilly.  
“I found this bracelet in Hannah's appartment when we had an argument. I retrieved it after Hannah was gone. I thought it might be important somehow and Hannah was having an affair with whoever gave her this. There are initials engraved on it. J.H."

Jessy looked at Lilith in disbelief. "Hold on. Lilith, does that mean you thought I was having an affair with Hannah when you asked me about the bracelet?"

Lilith shrugged. “Your initials matched. But now I'm sure that this bracelet belonged to Jennifer Hanson. And that Hannah bought it from the pawn shop when she saw it in the window. Because she recognized it as Jennifer's bracelet."

"I'm still confused" Jessy admitted. “Are we talking about Iris daughter? The one who had this terrible accident?"

Lilith nodded and looked into incredulous and shaken faces.

"So you think that Hannah's disappearance, Amy's death and Jennifer's accident are connected?" Lilly asked after a while.

"Yes, I think so" Lilith admitted. “And I am convinced that Hannah was also dealing with Jennifers case before she disappeared. And that they might even know each other. And that she found out something and therefore was kidnapped."

"Wow" Cleo said. Then she asked "what was Hannah getting drawn into?"

"I dont know. But we'll find out” Lilith said, sounding a little more confident than she actually was.

Lilly looked uncertainly at Lilith. "Um. Something else. Have you heard from Jake? Do you know how he's doing?"

"He's fine. And for the moment he's safe. As I wrote in the group chat, he and I will continue to do everything we can to find Hannah” she replied evasively.

"Why?" Thomas asked. He sounded jealous. “Why is he helping us? How do they know each other?"

Cleo looked at Thomas. "Why do you think they know each other?"

“Otherwise why should he be so interested in finding Hannah? If she weren't important to him“ Thomas replied.

Lilly took over. “The two know each other from the past. When Hannah and I lived with our parents, Hannah wrote to him regularly for a while. That's why I knew his name. Because I thought that the guy from back then and the hacker are one."

"Were the two ..." Thomas swallowed "... a couple?"

Lilly laughed. “No, don't worry, Thomas. They weren't. They never met either. They were more like 'virtual pen pals'. They only wrote emails."

"I see. So there you had all the information about him" Jessy said.

Lilly nodded.

"Will you ever tell us who he really is?" Cleo asked Lilly and Lilith.  
"When we found out about this #IAmJake thing, you were pretty vague about him."

"For his and your protection, Cleo“ Lilith answered and looked at Lilly. Then she said "We will tell you when the time is right."  
Lilith looked at her watch.  
“I have to go now. It's already late."

Jessy looked at her worried.  
"You don't want to stay here?"

"No. I still have work to do and I need to speak to Jake and Alan Bloomgate. But I'll keep you informed. Please promise me that you will stay here and not do anything rash."

"I promise" Cleo said. “And thank you, Lilith. For everything you've done so far. That cannot be taken for granted."

The others agreed and made the promise to Lilith as well.  
A few minutes later she made her way back to her room.

On the way there, she got a message from Lilly:  
'He's with you, isn't he?'

When she entered the room, Jake was sitting at the table in front of his laptop.

"Hey. Did you hear everything well? "

Jake looked at her and smiled.  
"Yes, thank you. That worked great again. It was better that way."

Lilith nodded "Yes, I think so too."  
She thought about the message. "What should I answer Lilly?"

"The truth."

She pulled out her cell phone and prepared an answer. Before Lilith sent it, she showed Jake the message for approval. He nodded.

'Yes he is. But please don't tell anyone. I told the truth that for the moment he is safe. Unfortunately, that can change very quickly. You'll meet soon, I'll take care of that. Please just give me some time for it.'

Lilly replied a short time later.  
'Thanks for telling me. No, I won't. Please take care of yourself.'

Jake closed his laptop and got up. Then he embraced Lilith and kissed her neck.  
"What do we want to do now?"

She enjoyed the kisses on her neck and pushed her body against his to close the gap between them.  
"It might sound a bit selfish, but ... I could use a little break."

He smiled and carried on. "Lil. You're far away from being selfish. You are self-sacrificing, caring, selfless, generous, devoted. And you deserve a break."

"I just think..."

"Stop thinking." Jake kissed her sensual while lifting her and carrying her to the bed. And for some time the two stopped thinking.


	11. 11

The next morning Lilith woke up due to receiving a call. First, she looked to see who was calling and then next to her. Jake was still asleep. She declined the call and sent the caller a message that she couldn't speak and will call back immediately. Then she got up, got dressed quickly, and went to the balcony before calling back.  
When she went back into the room after she'd finished the phone call, Jake looked at her a little sleepily. Lilith undressed again, lay down next to him and snuggled up against him.

"Good morning, did I wake you up?" she asked him quietly, while she rested her head on his chest and stroked his stomach.

Jake gently stroked her back. "Hey. Not directly. It just got a lot colder next to me all of a sudden. And then I heard that you were talking to someone. That made me a little curious because of the time. May I ask who that was?"

"Never ask a question you don't want to hear the answer to" she warned him.  
"I will tell you later. When we're awake and we had coffee."

"So bad?"

"No. The topic is just nothing to talk about while lying in bed like this."

Jake accepted that answer for now. They lay cuddled together in bed for a while and enjoyed the peace and warmth of each other. Half an hour later they finally got up.  
When Lilith came out of the bathroom, Jake was once again sitting in front of his laptop and drinking coffee.

"Will you tell me now who was on the phone and woke you up?"

"If you still want to know, yes. But caution: 'Jabberwocky'."

Jake pouted. Then he sighed and said dryly: “You're right, that topic isn't something for the bed. But yes, I want to know anyway."

Lilith also took a mug of coffee and sat down next to him.  
“That was my friend from the BKA. I called him yesterday while I was waiting for you. I asked him to do some research on the 'Mad Hatters'. It's not easy, however. It seems that they're acting very cautiously and it's been quiet around them in the recent years. Unfortunately, nobody knows exactly who is the head of the gang. According to him, there're rumors that a blonde woman is the leader."  
She paused for a moment so Jake could process what he heard.  
“Anyway, I have good news too. Because hardly anything is known, you could be an important witness."

"You told him about me?"

"No, don't worry. At least not directly. He just asked me why I was suddenly interested in them again. And then I mentioned that someone who is very important to me might have useful information and is probably in big trouble because of the 'Mad Hatters'."

Jake nodded, a sign that she should continue.

"He asked if there might be a photo of her or if you'd be willing to testify."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Lilith."

"Please, Jake. At least think about it. It could help you."

Jake looked at her. "Do you trust him?"

"Unconditionally" Lilith said without hesitation. Then she added with a wink “I would say I trust him so much that I would catch a bullet for him. But it's too late for that. I've already caught a bullet for him."

He smiled gently. “I have to admit that your tattoo hides the scar very well. Will you tell me, when the time is right, why you let yourself be shot for someone?"

"At the next opportunity, yes. But he is not 'someone'. Back then there were exactly two people for whom I'd have caught a bullet. He was one of them. Just think about it. I told him that I'd call him."

Jake nodded again, then leaned over to kiss Lilith.  
"Thank you, Lil."

"No problem. But I haven't done anything yet."  
Then she changed the subject.  
“I have to go back to Duskwood to meet Alan. I also want to pay Richy and Dan a visit and check on Phil. We have to move on."

He nodded. "You're right. I'm coming with you."

“No, Jake. You stay here. I don't want you to be sitting in the car all day waiting for me again."

"You'll leave the window ajar for me" he replied with a wink. Then he got a little more serious again.  
“I'm not going to allow you to go to Duskwood on your own. You wanted me to come with you to take care of you. And to keep you from doing stupid things. Spoiler alert: Going to Duskwood only by yourself is stupid. The man without a face is still after you and we haven't any idea who he is."

"But..."

"No 'but'" Jake interrupted. "I'm coming with you. It’s not at issue."

She sighed. "All right."

"Besides, 'Ihana' is so well endowed that I'd wait for you in her for days" he added with a wink.

A short time later they left the hotel and made their way to the police station.

\---

The conversation with Alan Bloomgate passed by very quickly. Lilith told him what she had learned from Hannah's friends about Jennifer's bracelet the evening before. He was surprised that the bracelet had been handed in to the pawnbroker by Paul Rogers and suggested that the two of them meet with him at short notice.

“I have to warn you though, Miss Smith. Paul Rogers isn't in the best of health. I don't know in what condition we'll find him."

This statement made her clairaudient. She pushed the thought aside for now and asked instead, "What about Mr. Hawkins?"

“We're going to discharge him at noon today. He wasn't very surprised when I told him that his sister wasn't coming to pick him up because she's out of town. Did you tell him?"

“I told him about the sign of the raven that she had on her front door. And that she's panicked and wanted to leave Duskwood. I guess that's why he wasn't surprised."

"I understand. I'm not comfortable knowing he's alone."

"Comprehensible. But Jessy isn't there. And I'd prefer if as little as possible knew where the others are."

Alan looked at her intently. “Yes, you're probably right. So I don't ask you about it. You know what you're doing. I see that."

“Thank you, Mr. Bloomgate. That means a lot to me."

A few minutes later they said goodbye and Lilith made her way to Phil's cell, but wasn't allowed to see him on the instructions of the lawyer.  
Lilith decided to contact him later after he was discharged.  
Since she and Alan had agreed to see again in the afternoon to meet Paul Rogers, she had a few hours to drive to the hospital again.

On their way, she asked Jake to gather information on Paul Rogers while she was visiting Richy and Dan.

\---

The visit to Dan was very entertaining and they both laughed a lot. It was a welcome change after all the 'difficult' conversations to just have small talk and fool around. With Dan, this was very easy.

He should be released from the hospital in two days and the two also discussed whether or not he should join the others.  
Lilith avoided telling him exactly where they were, and Dan didn't ask about them either. After everything that had happened, he too thought it's better if as few as possible know the whereabouts of the others.

After visiting Dan, Lilith went to see Richy. A policeman was still sitting in front of the door of his room, checking who went to him.  
Alan Bloomgate had apparently authorized her to visit him alone.  
She knocked and entered without waiting for an answer.  
Richy was in bed reading a book.

"Hello Richy" Lilith greeted him. "I wanted to see you and find out how you're doing."

Richy closed the book and put it away. Then he smiled at her. "Hey ho Lilith. How nice to see you again. You have been here before, haven't you?"

“Yeah, that's right, I have. The evening before last, right after you woke up, I was here with Alan Bloomgate."

He scratched the back of his head. "Sorry for the stupid question. Somehow it all seems like a dream to me and I'm no longer sure what really happened and what I imagined."

"So you dreamed of me?" she asked, amused.

He blushed. "No, um, that's not what I meant."

“I'm just teasing you, Richy. You know, laughter is the best medicine" said Lilith with a wink.  
"Can you remember anything?"

Richy sighed. "No, unfortunately not. I think about it desperately. But I really don't know what led me to go into the forest. I should have known better. The threat that you passed on to the group chat on behalf of Cleo was clear."

"What do you mean?"

“Cleo's mother had received this threatening letter and the photos. And the letter said something like 'This is my last warning. When you go into the forest, something terrible happens. I'm watching you all' or something similar. Well and I was probably the first one who went into the forest afterwards."

“Not funny, Richy. I was really worried about you."

Richy looked at her sadly and guiltily.

"How long do you have to stay here?" Lilith asked after a while.

“I'll have to endure for a few more days. They want to watch me for a while before I can go home. Speaking of home, what about the others?"

“Dan is still here. But he'll be released in two days. He wanted to visit you, but it seems he's not on the visitor list from the cop's. The others aren't in Duskwood at the moment."

"What do you mean?"

"After everything that happened, I thought it best to get them out of here for a while."

"That means they know that you're here?"

"Yes."

"Where are they?"

"Richy ... I can't tell you."

"Why not? Don't you trust me?"

"That's not the point. The point is that it's better if as little as possible knows where they are currently. It's not safe for them."

"Not for you either and yet you're here."

“Yes, because we have to move on. And I had no other choice."

"There is always another choice."

“Richy, it has to end. I'm here to find Hannah. It was you who asked me to stay. Now I'm here. You made your bed, now sleep in it."

He sighed. Then he looked at her with a grin. "Stubborn woman."

Lilith laughed. "I know that."  
She thought for a moment.  
"Richy, may I ask you something about your father?"

He made a face.  
"What has Paul done now?"

"Why do you think he did something?"

"Because it's not unlikely." He sighed again. "What do you want to know?"

“Do you know if he ever repaired an 'AMC Gremlin'? About 10 years ago?"

“Well, TT didn't exist 10 years ago and Roger's Garage was the only workshop. But no. I'm sure. I'd remember a 'Gremlin'."

He looked sad after being asked about his father. Lilith saw it.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

He looked at her in amazement. "Why do you think something happened?"

"I can see it."

He sighed again. “You're good, Lilith. But no, to be honest, I'd prefer not to talk about Paul."

Lilith considered for a moment whether she should tell him about the planned visit. She chose to stick with the truth.  
"I'm going to see him with Alan Bloomgate this afternoon."

He gazed at her. "What? Why? What has he done now?"

The 'now' again puzzled Lilith.  
"We want to talk to him about a bracelet that he gave to the pawnbroker about 10 years ago."

"What happened 10 years ago?"

"Why is that important?"

“Because it's the second time that you speak of this period. I thought you wanted to find Hannah?"

"I want to."

"Then why do you ask about something that was so long ago?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Because I just don't know enough for that" Lilith replied resignedly.   
At that moment she felt as if she had already said too much.

The two were silent for a moment.  
Then Richy said “You should be extremely cautious when you talk to Paul. He can get very aggressive. He ... he's been a heavy alcoholic ever since my mom had an ... accident. She ... is out of her mind and actually needs someone to take care of her. But Paul is not suitable for it."

"Oh, Richy, I'm very sorry."  
She looked at Richy and saw that he was uncomfortable with the topic.  
"If you want to talk about it, I'll be there for you."

“Thank you, Lilith. But not today and not here."

She nodded.

“As much as I appreciate your company, Lilith. I need some rest now. But I'd be happy to hear from you."

“Of course, Richy. Take a rest. Get well soon and thank you for your time."

"Take care of yourself."

Lilith hugged him goodbye and then she left the hospital with some answers and lots of new questions.

On the way to the camper van, she wrote a message to Phil.

\---

She and Jake drove to the vicinity of Roger's Garage, since Paul lived nearby and she would meet Alan Bloomgate there.  
Since the two still had some time until then, they used the time to exchange news.

Jake looked at his notes on the laptop.  
“I did some research on the Rogers family. After everything I've read, I'm curious about your meeting with him. Paul Rogers opened Rogers Garage about 26 years ago after completing an apprenticeship as a car mechanic. That was about two years after Richard, his only child, was born. His wife, Rita Rogers did the bookkeeping for him. He passed responsibility to Richy about 7 years ago. He has been leading it ever since. It seems that Rita was involved in an accident about 10 years ago where she almost died. Neither of them were able to recover from this accident. She is paralyzed and sits in a wheelchair. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 8 years ago and has been a heavy alcoholic for about 6 years."

Lilith looked at him startled.  
"Shit. You can really feel sorry for Richy."  
Then she thought aloud.  
"Again, it's about an incident about 10 years ago ... Something is absolutely wrong in this city."

“I agree with you, Lil. But I couldn't find out what exactly happened to Rita."

Lilith thought about Phil's words again.  
"Maybe Phil wanted to draw my attention to Paul."

"What makes you think that?"

"I can hardly explain."

"Well, you can ask him when you two meet later."

"Did you read along again?"

"Yeah, I did" Jake admitted.

"J, you know I have to talk to him. Without a lawyer."

"I know" he sighed. "I'm just not comfortable with it."

"I'll be ok. I know that you take care of me” she replied softly and stroke his arm gently.

"I will" Jake said and kissed Lilith gently.

A short time later, she went to meet Alan Bloomgate.

\---

"Is there anything else I should know before we ring the doorbell?" Lilith asked Alan as the two of them entered the property.

Alan smiled politely at Lilith.  
“As far as I know you, you've already done your homework, Miss Smith. However you do it. As I said this morning, I don't know what shape Paul will be in. He's been very sick for a while. And his wife too. It's tragic what happened to them."  
Alan looked sad.

"You're good friends with him, aren't you?" she asked curiously.

"I was, yes. But in the last few years, since he transferred the workshop to his son, he has withdrawn more and more and he hardly goes outside anymore. Unfortunately, he does not allow any help. Neither for his wife, nor for himself. He didn't even want to get help from Dr. Barret even though he is an expert in trauma therapy."

"Does that mean Paul Rogers has PTSD?"

“No, he has bipolar disorder. But I'm sure the trigger for this has something to do with Rita's accident. Rita is his wife. I have to warn you, Miss Smith. She is paralyzed and sits in a wheelchair. I don't know if we'll see her."

In the meantime they'd reached the front door. Alan rang the doorbell. They waited a few minutes, but nothing happened. Alan rang again. Again nothing happened.

Alan cleared his throat before shouting out loud “Paul? It's me, Alan. We spoke on the phone this morning and you said I could come over. Please open the door."

Again nothing happened. He pulled out his cell phone and tried to call him. Nobody answered.

"Strange" Alan began. “He has changed a lot in the last few years and has withdrawn more and more, but so far he has always kept his word. That doesn't suit him."

"What do we want to do now?" Lilith asked.

Alan rang the doorbell one last time. Again nothing happened.

“Well, I'm afraid we'll have to come back again another time. Excuse me, Miss Smith."

“Don't bother, Mr. Bloomgate. It's not your fault."

With that they turned around and left the property again.  
As they were about to say goodbye, Lilith thought about Dr. Barret.

"Mr. Bloomgate, did you ever talk to Dr. Barret about Miss Donfort?"

He looked at her confused. "Why should I have done that?"

“Because I know that Hannah was in therapy. And then it just occurred to me whether he might know something. Tell me, was he the one who found Miss Bell Lewis' body?"

He looked at her in amazement. "How do..."

"The newspaper article about the discovery of the body" interrupted Lilith. "It said that a man discovered this body while taking his dog for a walk."

Alan sighed. “I had completely forgotten the article. But yes, you're correct in your assumption. And of course we spoke with Dr. Barret. But not about Miss Donfort. I'll ask him to come to the station tomorrow, then we can talk to him."

"Thank you, Mr. Bloomgate."

With that they said goodbye to each other and Lilith went back to the camper van to drive to the next stop of her long list of visits.


	12. 12

The Aurora was closed when Lilith arrived. Still she knocked on the door. Two minutes later, Phil opened the door.

"Oh, it's you. Hello Lilith, we've still closed."

"Hello Phil, can I come in anyway?"

"Mr. Castle actually doesn't want me to talk to you."

"Is he around now?"

"No."

"Would you like company?"

"Yes."

"May I come in then?"

He grinned and nodded, then let her inside.  
Lilith looked around astonished. The Aurora reminded her of her favorite pub near her home town, which she used to go to with Ellie.

“You've a nice bar here. Seems very cozy."

"Thank you. Welcome to the Aurora”, Phil replied as he went behind the counter and grabbed a bottle of Whiskey.  
"Want a glass, too?"

She looked at him skeptically.  
"Do you want to drown your exasperation in alcohol?"

He shrugged his shoulders.  
"Why not?"

She sighed.  
"Pour me a glass, too."

Phil smiled, took out two glasses and poured something for both of them. He handed one and clink glasses with her.

"Cheers" Phil said, taking a sip.  
“Why are you here, Lilith? Do you want to ask some more uncomfortable questions?"

Lilith took a sip and considered.  
"To be honest. Not only, but I'm here to ask you two or three questions, yes. But first and foremost I wanted to see you and find out how you are."

He looked at her in amusement and took another sip.  
Then he said sarcastically: "See how I'm doing, huh? Well what can I say. I was arrested 'cause I'm suspected of murdering a girl I was in bed with a couple of times. I was accused of having something to do with the disappearance of a regular customer of mine. My sister was marked with the 'Sign of the Raven' and has left Duskwood. And guests no longer come here because of the allegations. How do you think I'm doing?"  
Phil emptied his glass and poured himself a new one.

"I'm sorry, Phil. That was a stupid question."

"Indeed" Phil said angrily. Then he calmed down a bit.  
“But it's not your fault. And I shouldn't always take my frustration out on others. That's probably why I'm in this position."  
He took another sip.  
"So what do you want to know?"

Lilith took a small sip from her glass.  
"What did you want from Dan when you were in the hospital?"

Phil put the bottle on the counter and walked around to sit on a stool next to Lilith. Meanwhile, he answered the question.  
“Talk to him about why he let me down. I don't know how much you know. But a while ago my sister asked me to give him a chance as a bartender. I could really have used his support. I only have one other employee at the moment. Stefan. He should come soon too. Anyway, I thought it's a good idea and worth a try. Dan is someone I could imagine working with. But he just didn't show up on his first day. I took out my frustration on my sister, which admittedly wasn't entirely fair. But after I found out that he was in the hospital after a car accident, I wanted to visit him. For one thing, I wanted to see how he was doing. On the other hand, as I said, wanted to know why he let me down and, last but not least, I wasn't averse to giving him a second chance. But unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to speak to him. If I interpret it correctly, he has been hiding from me."  
Phil sighed and took another sip.  
"Why are you interested in it?"

“'Cause I know about your attempt to visit Dan. He told me. I know his side, but a wise man reminds me that there are two sides to every coin."

At that moment her watch showed her a message.  
' :* '

Lilith smiled as she looked at the message for a moment.

Phil looked at her closely.  
"This 'wise man' seems to mean a lot to you" he said.

Lilith nodded and emptied her glass.  
“That's right, he does. In fact, a lot."

"What a shame for me" he replied with a wink and also emptied his glass.  
"Another one for you, too?"

She nodded and Phil filled both glasses and clinked with her again.

"What do you think Thomas and Cleo wanted in your basement?" Lilith asked, after taking a sip.

"No idea. I guess they thought they'd find Hannah there. Which is ridiculous. The police also searched the basement after they arrested me. Surprise, they didn't find anything except my supplies for the bar, chairs and tables and a few throwouts, as well as personal items from the pre-owner."

"Can you tell me something about the previous owner?"

“His name is Alan Milan. He opened this bar about 24 years ago. The Aurora was always very important to him, but especially after his only daughter died about 10 years ago. He never got over the loss and totally plunge into work. I started my job here about 8 years ago. Well, and last year he told me he want to leave Duskwood and he would be happy if I buy the bar from him. Since I always had a lot of fun working here, of course I didn't think twice about it. Especially with the price Alan offered. Before you ask, I don't know where Alan was going. He didn't tell me and I didn't ask."

"Do you know what happened to his daughter back then?"

"Not exactly. She was probably on her way to him when she disappeared without a trace. They've been looking for her for days. Her body was found a few days later."

"Wait a minute, do you mean Jennifer Hanson? She was Alan's daughter?"

Phil nodded and took a sip. Lilith also took a sip to digest what she heard.

"May I go into your basement, Phil?"

Phil grinned mischievously.  
"Well, if your man doesn't mind, I don't mind" he replied with a wink.   
"As I said, I appreciate beautiful women."

Lilith rolled her eyes.  
“Phil, you know exactly what I meant. NOT THAT. You said there were still some of Alan’s personal items in the basement. I was wondering if you would allow me to have a look at them."

"What do you hope for from this?"

"I don't know. Maybe a photo of him and his daughter. Or some other information that could help me."

"Why are you interested in it? I thought you wanted to find Hannah?"

She emptied the glass and pushed it towards him so that he could fill it up again. Phil finished his glass and poured again.

“I want to find Hannah, correct. But I think what happened to Jennifer back then is also related to Hannah's disappearance somehow. And maybe also with the death of Amy. That reminds me of something. When I visited you, you wanted to tell me something about Amy and Hannah. Would you tell me now?"

"Didn't my hint help you?"

“I've been thinking for a long time about what you were trying to tell me and I have a theory. But I'm not certain."

"Try."

"Paul Rogers."

Phil nodded.  
"Then the hint helped you."

"But what did you want to tell me?"

“Amy was disarranged that night she was in the Aurora. When I asked her what was going on, she said she overheard a conversation with Hannah and Paul Rogers about some bracelet that Hannah bought. Hannah really wanted to know from Paul where he got the bracelet. Paul freaked out and yelled at Hannah about why she's rummaging around in the past and then he trudged off angrily. Amy then went to Hannah and spoke to her. She did not say that she overheard the conversation, but she told Hannah that you can tell that she probably isn't doing well and that Amy would listen. The two were very good friends in the past, but have grown apart in recent years. Nevertheless, Hannah was grateful. She told Amy she was investigating something, but didn't go into great detail. And one of those inquiries would have something to do with Paul Rogers, whom she would have met 'by accident'. Which is strange, because Paul Rogers rarely goes outside. I can't tell you more, but I thought that might help you."

"Thank you, Phil. Indeed it could."

“That were more than three questions. My turn. Is that something serious between you and this 'wise man'?"

"It is" Lilith replied without hesitation.

Phil leaned over to her and whispered in her ear: “What a shame. If that ever change, you've my number."  
Then he sat up again and emptied the next glass.  
“Well, my basement. If you like, feel free to take a look around. Even though I doubt you'll find anything to help you. I said Alan left 'personal items' there, but as far as I know there weren't any photos or anything."  
He got up and went to a door.  
"Come with me."

Lilith got up and followed him. The door led to a small hallway and a staircase that led to the basement. Phil turned on the light when he got downstairs. Lilith looked around. The shelves on one wall were filled with various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, beer kegs and various crate of beer, as well as snacks and some cardboard boxes with the name 'Alan' on it. Tables and chairs were stacked against another wall. On a third wall was an old jukebox and boxes that were labeled 'Decoration'. There's a door in the opposite wall.

“Why does the basement of the bar have a massive steel door? It seems a lot of protection to me” Lilith asked curiously.

“Almost all the houses on this street have these steel doors for the basement. Back then the cellars were also supposed to serve as bunkers."

"Make sense."

“Well, this is the basement. As you can see, no Hannah."  
Phil took a chair from the stack, gave it a quick dusting and placed it in front of a table. Then he got the boxes that belonged to Alan and put them on the table.  
“That's all he left here. Feel free to take a look. Do you want to have another drink?"

"No thanks, not at the moment."

"'kay. If you need anything, just let me know. I'm upstairs."  
Phil went back to the stairs.

"Hey Phil?"

He stopped and turned to her.  
"Yeah?"

“I know it sucks what happened to you. But alcohol won't help you with this. Friends do."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience."

"I do."

“Don't worry, Lilith. I won't overdo it."  
With that, Phil turned back and left Lilith alone.

She took out her cell phone and hung up. Then she wrote a message to Jake.  
'Hey, I don't know if Phil can hear me so I decided to hang up and text you instead of talking to you. I'm now sitting in the basement and looking through the boxes. See you later.'

She sighed, sat down and took a closer look at the first box. She found some records pertaining to the bar, but nothing personal. In the second box were some things that Alan probably had in his office, but nothing useful here either that would help her. She opened the third box. On top was an old picture frame. The photo showed a man with a young girl. Lilith guessed that the girl in the photo was maybe 14 or 15. She opened the picture frame and looked at the back of the photo. Unfortunately there was nothing on it. She put the photo back in the picture frame and continued to look in the box. She found an invoice for an engraved bracelet. Lilith looked at the photo again and saw that the girl in the photo was wearing a bracelet. It looked like that, what Thomas had shown her.  
'Alan had originally given Jennifer this bracelet' Lilith thought, looking at the bill again. It was from a jeweler in another town.  
Lilith looked further and saw a yellowed envelope with Jennifer's name on it. She hesitated, then decided to open the envelope. It contained a letter from Alan to Jennifer.

_"My dear Jenny,  
I'm sorry how we diverged the last time we met. I shouldn't have yelled at you.  
I know that you're old enough to make your own decisions and live your own life.  
But why does it have to be a married man of all people who is so much older than you? He has a son and a wife and I don't think he will leave them for you.  
I know him well enough for that, and you know that.  
Please think about it again. I couldn't stand it if he breaks your heart.  
I hope we can talk about it in peace next time.  
I will always stand by you, even if I don't approve of it.  
Please forgive me.  
Dad"_

Lilith read through the letter several times and then looked at the date. The letter was written over 10 years ago. She took a picture of the letter and send it to Jake.  
Then she carefully pocketed it.  
She searched the rest of the box but found nothing else useful.  
After Lilith had searched all the boxes, she put the boxes back in their place and went back upstairs.

Phil sat at the bar in front of an empty glass. Lilith sat down next to him.

"Do you have another glass for a thirsty woman?" Lilith asked and smiled at him.

"Sure."  
He smiled back and poured another glass for both of them.  
"Did you find something?"

"Maybe, yes" Lilith admitted.  
"Did you know Alan's daughter Jennifer?"

He shook his head.  
“Nah, not really. Just from seeing. When I started to work here, she was already dead and as far as I know she was a bit older than me."

"Thank you. For your help. Can I do something for you?"

"No. Stefan should come right away. Not only is he a good bartender, he's also a good friend. But thanks."

At that moment the door opened and a man came in.

"Hey Phil, sorry about being late" the man said, but then stopped when he saw Lilith. "But I see you had nice company."

Phil grinned.   
"Oh, I had. Definitely. Hello Stefan. This is Lilith. You know: Duskwood latest celebrity."

Stefan came up to them and shook Lilith's hand.  
"I'm glad. Thanks for taking care of him. I'll take over from now” he said with a wink.

Lilith finished her drink and spoke briefly to Phil and Stefan, then said goodbye and went back to Jake.

\---

He was waiting outside the camper and grinned to her.

"Hey, you. It would be better if I drive back, right?" he asked with a wink and kissed her on the forehead.

She smiled.  
"Yes, I think so too. Are you mad?“ Lilith asked as she sat into the passenger side.

Jake sat into the driver's seat.  
"Why should I? I think by now I understand your difference between 'being nice', 'flirting with someone' and 'getting information in the course of an investigation'. And I must confess you got a lot of information out of him."

"Thanks. Still, I feel a little tipsy."

"No wonder with four glasses of Whiskey."

"It was really good."

Jake laughed.  
"I'm glad it was tasty. You can be very satisfied with the result. And I will not judge or convict your methods. Are we finished for today?"

"We are. Let's go back. And ... thank you."  
Lilith thought for a moment.  
“Can we stop anywhere and eat something? Somehow I'm really hungry."

“Of course, Lil. Everything you want."

\---

When Jake and Lilith arrived at the hotel, it was already dark and quite late. However, after dinner, Lilith was sober again ready to get back to work.

Jake started his Notebook and looked at all of the previous notes to update them with the new information.

Meanwhile, Lilith wrote some messages.  
On the one hand, she wrote a message to Dan with the information, what Phil wanted from him in the hospital and recommended that he should contact Phil.  
Then she wrote a long message to Jessy that Phil was discharged and that she was with him to check on him.  
Afterwards she called Alan Bloomgate to find out when they will meet Dr. Barett.  
Finally, she wrote a message in the new group chat asking the others how their doing and said, without going into great detail, that the search seemed to be going on slowly.

When she finished, she sat down next to Jake, who was still sitting in front of his laptop.  
"How can I help you?"

"By resting?" he suggested.

"No chance."

"But I can't work like that."

"Why? I'm not doing anything."

“You're sitting here, next to me. That's enough to distract me."

She snorted. "Fine. Then I use the time and take a shower."

"Oh yes, because the thought of you being naked next room is a lot less distracting."

She got up and replied with a wink "You could join me."

He looked at her thoughtfully. “That is really a very, very tempting thought, Lil. But I'm afraid that will have to wait a little longer."

She shrugged her shoulders.  
"Pity. At least I've tried."  
Then she slowly undressed in front of him and went to the bathroom. At the door she turned to him again and winked.  
"Last chance."

Jake slowly eyed up Lilith as she stood naked in the bathroom door and unconsciously bit his lower lip. Then he closed his laptop with a grin, walked up to her and meanwhile undressed himself. When he stood next to her, he picked her up and kissed her passionately while carry her into the bathroom, not just so they could shower together.


End file.
